Harry Potter and the Tomb of Time
by xycos
Summary: In Harry's sixth year, he fights a chimera, plays at the Junior Quidditch World Cup, breaks into Azkaban and falls in love. Chapter 22 is up... What happened to Dumbledore? What's up with the zombie? Read and find out!
1. Chapter 1: Succession

**Harry Potter and the Tomb of Time**

**Chapter 1: Succession**

Darkness poured forth from a small window at the end of the room. Outside the window was a dark night, covered completely in ominous clouds. Rain was coming down in torrents as if each droplet was a soldier and the ground an impenetrable fortress. The darkness climbed the wall, oozed through the window and sinuously entwined the aged furniture in the room, slowly erasing each chair, dissolving each table, consuming every piece of jewelry. It meticulously encircled a dresser, slowly removing each and every piece of dust, deleting the cracked mirror, and removing the lamp from existence, before finally destroying the dresser itself, shelf by shelf. The darkness was not a normal darkness. It was like molasses, flooding in slow motion into the room, climbing up shelves and deleting things from the world. It was almost as if starting here and expanding outwards was the end of the time.

Suddenly, the dust stirred, and a weak light shone into the room on the side opposite the window. One would almost expect the darkness to reflect this light there was so much substance to the black ooze, but in there was only nothingness. A door creaked ominously open. The shadow of a figure crossed the light. The figure seemed small, almost skeletal, with a hunched back. As the figure stepped into the light, one could notice tattered, bloodstained clothes hung loosely about him. The man was obviously malnourished and walked with a limp. Weakly, he collapsed to the ground.

The darkness seemed almost afraid of the man. It moved around him, but did not get within a short radius of him. At one point, it cautiously extended a tendril of blackness towards him, and seemed to pull it back, as if it was in pain.

"So, Voldemort, you've returned?" croaked the old man.

A dark figure emerged from the blackness, his shape forming and the colors fading into existence later. This man, if one could call it so, was tall and gaunt and had a face like a snake, a pure, skull-like white and red slits for eyes. The body was cloaked in a black cape. When he spoke, his voice was high-pitched and cold.

"Yes," the figure said in an almost amused way.

            The man on the floor seemed to be disturbed by the true manifestation of Voldemort, but he seemed to know that the dark lord could do nothing to him.

"Yet, you are still afraid of me?"

"You will die in a few hours time. There is little you can do to stop me."

"Yet, as I may die, another will live. I have named a successor."

The dark figure at first looked rather unsteady upon hearing this, but it was only a slight waver. When he spoke next, his voice was, if possible, even colder.

"Dumbledore, yes?"

"I cannot say."

"That old fool is nothing to me."

"I heard that last time the two of you met, he had the upper hand."

There was another silence. Now his words were a sharp ice, tearing to shreds the ears of any listener.

"My powers have not yet fully awakened, and he had help. Once the tomb is opened, there is nothing that can stand in my way."

The figure let out a cold laugh. The old man coughed feebly and two spots of blood fell onto the ancient wood floor.

"Look at yourself," the figure said again, and amused sort of malice dripping through his voice, "You are pitiful and weak. You lie on the floor coughing up blood. A child could kill you."

Although he was dying, the man seemed to have an inextinguishable spark of defiance in his eyes. He raised his head off the floor and gathered the strength to speak in a voice barely above a whisper.

"Yet, you, the most powerful wizard in the world, cannot."

The figure's eyes glowed with anger, and he appeared to be straining himself to keep from leaving his pedestal and leaping across the darkness to kill the man.

"Why do you still defy me so? Even on your deathbed!"

The old man, however, seemed too weak to speak. He lay his head down, and made a feeble attempt at gesturing with his hand. He took a few labored breaths and then went still. Then, something very curious happened. His body seemed to deteriorate in freeze-frame motion. In a matter of seconds, his flesh seemed to fall apart sickeningly, mold grew over his bones, giving them a green and grassy shimmer. The mold and the bones together soon turned gray. A few seconds later, the bones themselves deteriorated, and turned to a pile of grey dust. The dust stayed still for a moment, and then slowly blew away, scattering itself over the oozing darkness and out the window.

A strange sort of satisfied smile twisted the whitened face of the dark figure. He began to melt back into the darkness, emitting a high, cruel laugh. The last few particles of dust flew out into the night, up into the clouded sky. The darkness slowly began to recede out the window leaving nothing but charred wood in its wake. Far away, in Little Whinging, Surrey, England, a boy by the name of Harry Potter awoke, a pain tearing apart his head.


	2. Chapter 2: Beginnings and Endings

**Chapter 2: Beginnings and Endings**

Harry shot up in bed, drenched in cold sweat and clutching at his scar. Glancing at his watch in the moonlight revealed it to be two o'clock in the morning. Already, the details of the dream were fading but he understood something: the man was able to repel the dark lord Voldemort. He stood up, stretched, and turned on a light at his desk, removing quills and parchment from beneath a floorboard in his room, and began to try to write down the details of the dream in a letter to his old teacher, Professor Lupin.

Harry took his quill and dipped it in fire-ink, a birthday present from Hermione. The ink drew red, burning lines on the paper that glowed with a fiery red passion and warmed one's hands when they touched it, but it wasn't nearly as hot as real fire. Hermione thought it might make Harry more interested in his studies. Harry moved his pen over to the page and began to write:

Dear Remus,

How are you doing? How are Mad-Eye and Tonks?

But he could write no more. Thinking about Lupin and the rest made him remember Sirius Black. His godfather had been the closest thing to a parent Harry had ever had. Angrily, Harry threw aside the quill, spilling liquid fire across the desk, where it burned a small hole, and collapsed back onto his bed, feeling sick. Why did Sirius have to die on him?

He had been completely unable to write real letters to Sirius's good friend, Remus Lupin, ever since Sirius had died. He had sent short, tear-stained notes saying he was well, and the Dursleys were treating him okay. He now had lost everyone who'd ever resembled a parent to him, and he had withdrawn to himself. Everything had happened because of him; because of him Voldemort had recovered; because of him his parents had died. All he did was bring misery. And he hated himself for it. Every step was difficult, every movement painful, knowing that he alone was responsible for so much death!

He tossed and turned in bed, but could not fall back to sleep. As the sun parted the curtains, he dragged himself out of bed with bags under his eyes, and pushed open the door to go downstairs and face his aunt and uncle. They had been tolerably polite to him since the end of the last year where they had been threatened by a group of fully capable wizards, but had been far from nice. As he walked in, Uncle Vernon grunted a good morning through his toast and didn't remove his eyes from an article in Power Tools Monthly (his company made drills). Aunt Petunia was fixing what would be a moderately gigantic breakfast for Godzilla, which she planned to give to Dudley, who was about the size of King Kong..

"What do you want?" snapped Aunt Petunia as Harry appeared behind her.

"Mind if I grab a couple waffles?"

"I didn't make them for you. Make your own."

It appeared that Moody's threats hadn't really gotten through to them. Sighing, he poured himself a little orange juice and dumped some batter into the waffle iron.

Dudley wolfed down his breakfast, stood up, and walked out without a word spoken.

"Where're you going?" asked Mr. Dursley.

"Out," Dudley said frankly. The past year, he would have resorted to excuses about having tea with friends, but lately he had been ever more defiant of his parents.

"Out where?"

"None of your business."

"It bloody well is! You're my only son!"

But the words were lost on Dudley, who, with a little difficulty, shoved himself through the door and slammed it behind himself. The last summer, Dudley had gotten into telling his parents that he was out to tea with his friends, but this year, he tried as best as possible to avoid talking to Harry or his parents.

"Bloody kids these days! They've got no respect! I'm getting tired of his backtalk…" Uncle Vernon said aloud.

"I think we should have a talk with him," Mrs. Dursley said.

"No, it's because _he's _here. Makes the lad nervous, you know?"

By that, Harry knew they meant him. They had gotten into the habit of ignoring him and talking about him as if he wasn't there, a long time ago, and although, thanks to Mad-Eye's threats they had toned it down a little, they were unable to completely reform themselves.

The summer was looking pretty dismal. He wasn't even sure how he would get into London to get his school supplies for the following year or how he would be able to go to King's Cross station. He had a vision of Mr. Dursley striding down Diagon Alley and had to keep from laughing. He could certainly ask one of his friends to take him there, but he didn't want to have to resort to that. Ron was visiting with his brothers, Fred and George Weasley. Although their mom had all but disowned them after they ran away from school the previous year, they were doing quite well running a magical joke shop, and were great people to hang out with. Hermione was visiting her boyfriend, Viktor Krum, in Romania. He could get Lupin or Moody to take him into town, but they were very busy organizing with Dumbledore resistance movements against Voldemort, and it was best not to bother them.

Harry listlessly took his waffles from the waffle iron and poured a liberal amount of maple syrup over them. He ate slowly, thinking about Sirius, and trying to ignore the pain in his scar, which was just starting to ebb away. He thought, too, about how much weight had been placed on his own shoulders – last year, he had discovered that a prophecy had been told about him: that either he would kill Lord Voldemort, or Voldemort would kill him. Despite all the efforts of the resistance movements and the Ministry of Magic, he was everyone's greatest hope – and he couldn't bear having everyone protecting and caring so much about him.

"Thanks," he said mildly, putting his plate in the sink

Mr. Dursley grunted assent. Harry wondered why he even bothered to speak civilly to the Dursleys, but he felt it was his duty. He then tried to think of something to do. Last summer, he would have probably walked down to the park or tormented Dudley and his gang. This year, he found no interest in anything. Wrapped up in his own thoughts, he would, many days, take a long walk for miles and miles, sometimes as far as Staines. He would walk along the hot, noisy roads, looking for any sign of wizardry around. He knew that he shouldn't wander far from his aunt's house, but staying in Privet Drive felt like the worst thing in the world to him. Occasionally, he would visit Mrs. Figg, a lady who lived on Privet Drive and was responsible for watching Harry. She was a Squib, however, she was the closest thing to a magical connection he had around, though she wasn't always the most pleasant person to hang out with.

Today, he decided, he would stay here and try again to get out a letter to Lupin and the rest of them. He wanted to find a way to ask them about the dream he had had the last night, and he felt he was ready to write it now. He approached the stairs, and was about to take them at a run when he saw something that caught his eye. The broom closet under the stairs which he once had slept in was now filled with boxes of unused things. On the top of the pile was a box inexpertly labeled "Lily's Stuff". He wondered why Mrs. Dursley still had a box full of her sister's things, and he planned to find out. He looked behind him and checked that the Dursleys were settled into eating their breakfast, and then carefully slid the box down. It was surprisingly heavy.

It was the only box in the closet without tape, and it wasn't dusty either. It looked like it had been opened recently. That coupled with the fact that the closet door had been open, made Harry wonder if Aunt Petunia had been looking through the box recently. He slowly opened the top flaps and looked inside. The top of the box contained hastily thrown together papers, as if someone had rifled through and wanted to hide something. The papers were not parchment, they were ordinary muggle paper. Closer inspection revealed it to be grade reports for Dudley from his school, Smeltings. Yes, someone had definitely been through this box recently.

Harry knew he should put it back and forget it even existed – he had a feeling he wouldn't like what was inside, however, he ignored his instincts and moved the papers aside as quietly as possible. There was an old but usable wand, some magic runes, a few books and pictures, and a bottle of some sort of potion. There was nothing Harry wouldn't expect her mother to have. Then he saw something very strange. At the bottom of the box was a small silver box with a snake carving on each corner and brilliant gems embedded in it. Somehow, it gave off a strange aura of evil. Harry peered at it closely, and then reached out for it. As he touched it, a new surge of pain shot through his scar like a needle. He had to bite his lip to keep from screaming. He quickly withdrew his hand. Shaking his head, he stared at the box. There was something odd about it, he knew that much. Was this what whoever had been going through the box was after?

Harry gritted his teeth, and touched the silver box again. The pain was excruciating, enough to make him feel nauseous. However, he gripped the box and picked it up with two hands, and staggered up to his room, nearly crying, he flung the box onto the bed and waited for the pain to subside. With his heart pounding, he sat on the edge of his bed and examined the box further. The snakes were definitely the symbols of the Slytherin house at Hogwarts. Their eyes were tiny emeralds, and their teeth were gnashed together in a demonic grin. The box was about the size of a small jewelry box, and had a tiny keyhole on the side of it. He reached out and touched it once again, almost instinctively. Pain shot through his head once again. Shaking his head clear, he realized that he had left the cardboard box of his mother's stuff open downstairs. He turned around and prepared to cover his tracks, when he saw Mrs. Dursley standing on the landing.

"My, my, aren't we a little nosy?" said Mrs. Dursley venomously. Harry's heart stopped.

"What do you mean…?" said Harry, as calmly as he could muster.

"Don't make me ask you again. Give me back the Drakhen."

"What's a Drakhen?"

"The silver box. Give it back."

"Why do you need it? It's obviously magical, which means it's useless to you."

"Don't speak to me in that tone of voice." Her voice wavered slightly. "I'll shoot you… I'll kill you… Give it back and we'll forget this ever happened!"

Harry stared at her. She looked menacing framed against the sunrise. She was shaking, and she looked like a bomb about to blow up. Harry, however, knew he had the upper hand. In life-or-death situations, he was allowed to use magic under the Decree of Restriction of Underage Wizardry, and he always carried his wand with him. 

"Don't you remember your promise to Dumbledore?"

There was a moment of silence as Harry's words set in. Aunt Petunia had promised Dumbledore that she would look after Harry. Although Harry did not know the exact terms of the agreement, the previous year a howler had come screaming "Remember your last, Petunia." His aunt looked furious.

"I promised him that you have to come here once a year. And you have. Now, leave. I don't want to see your face until next summer."

She spat, turned around, and left. Harry needed no more persuasion. He ran up the stairs, threw as much as he could in his trunk, including the Drakhen (with some difficulty), picked up Hedwig's cage (Hedwig was out hunting) and his broomstick, threw his invisibility cloak over himself, and walked out the door.


	3. Chapter 3: The Forgotten

**Chapter 3: The Forgotten**

Harry generally knew his way around the area, but he wasn't planning on walking into London. He could probably get away with flying, but the invisibility cloak was likely to blow off. He thought about the Knight Bus, however, he didn't know exactly how to call it. He realized that he probably would need to either use less magical transportation or wait for the cover of darkness before heading into town.

Sighing, he began to walk north, thinking about what had just happened. Who exactly was his aunt? Was she connected somehow to the world of wizardry still? And what was with the Drakhen that now lay nestled in his suitcase? He remembered the eerie glow in the eyes of the snakes. Snakes were the symbol of Lord Voldemort as well as of Slytherin house. He wondered exactly why he had taken it along. Certainly, curiosity was part of it, but he also had some strange urge like it was pulling him towards it, as much as it repelled him. He still hadn't opened it and seen what was inside it, but it was most probably locked, and the key could be anywhere.

He reached the train station within half an hour and settled down on a bench to sleep below his invisibility cloak. It wasn't exactly the most comfortable of places to stay, but he was finally, after a lot of tossing and turning, and a few people accidentally sitting on him, fall asleep.

Harry dreamed that he was in the desert, walking along under a heavy, hot cowl as part of a procession of black-robed men. They bore with them a beautiful silver casket, designed like a larger version of the Drakhen. After walking for miles, they reached a door to the tomb. Cold, freezing air blew out of the tomb, but it was a refreshing change from the constant sun of the desert. The procession stopped for a moment. Then, the procession leader turned and entered the tomb doorway. The rest of the procession flowed, slowly. Just as Harry was about to enter the tomb, he awoke to someone talking to him.

"I said, what are you doing on my bench?"

When Harry awoke, it was dark outside, and he couldn't see more than a few feet in front of him. The speaker was a skinny, ratty-looking boy with messy blonde hair that was caked with dirt, about three years younger than Harry, with a heavy Cockney accent. His clothes were ill-fitting and dirty, his teeth were in terrible condition, and everything about him suggested he was a street urchin.

For one wild moment, Harry thought that his invisibility cloak had fallen off, but he felt the silky brush against his skin and realized it was still on. Harry looked around for anyone else the kid might be talking to, but the station seemed deserted. That left only one explanation: the kid could see through Harry's cloak.

"Can you see me…?" asked Harry tentatively.

"Of course I can. That old cloak won't fool one of the Forgotten."

"Forgotten…?"

At this, a ragtag bunch of dirty street kids, both girls and boys, popped out from all over the station. All the kids looked between 11 and 18, and they all looked abandoned, but relatively happy.

"How can you see me? Are you witches and wizards?"

"We're the orphans of the magic world," said the boy. "We have no one to live with, so we live out on the street, doing what we want, how we want. From the looks of it, you're from that stuck-up little school Hogwarts."

"Kevin!" warned a short brown-haired girl about a year older than Harry. She seemed to be the leader of the gang. "We're all friends here."

The kid paused for a moment, sizing Harry up.

"You know, this might be easier if I didn't have to focus. Take off that dumb cloak."

Obediently, Harry removed the cloak and threw it in his trunk. He stared around at all of the kids. There were only six, although it looked like many more when he first saw them.

"Oh, yeah. Pardon my manners. I'm Kevin."

"Annette," said the short girl who had spoken earlier. She had a slightly elongated nose, but seemed almost pretty beneath all the grime.

"Sarah," said a smaller girl who looked remarkably like Ginny, down to the freckles and the red hair.

"Benny," said a boy who was about 11. He very small, but looked like he knew what he was doing. However, looked sick, and his hair was matted with blood. Seeing Harry look at it, he said "My parents abandoned me because I'm a werewolf… Last night was full moon."

"Amy," said an older girl with a ponytail. She had a bossy, disapproving look to her.

The last kid stood apart from the others and looked a bit older, and was smoking heavily. He wore chains and punk clothing that had worn down over the years. There was a moment of silence as he puffed on his cigarette, and finally said, "Zack."

"I'm Harry," Harry said, smiling at them.

He was glad to see some wizards, even if they were orphans. He felt sorry for these kids, but also somehow felt he connected with them – he himself was an orphan.

"Yeah, we know," said Amy hollowly. "You've got that nice little scar on your head."

"Yeah, I guess so."

"So," said Annette, "Why aren't you staying with those muggles you spend the summer with?"

"They kicked me out."

"Why? Did you do any scary magic tricks that you learned at Hogwarts? Ooh, ooh!"

"Kevin!"

"I took something of my mothers that was lying around the house. I was going to give it back, but there was something drawing me to it."

"What was it?" asked Benny.

"I don't know exactly. It was a silver box thing called a Drakhen. Have you heard of it?"

There was a short silence, as they looked at him. They seemed to know something about it and each eyed Harry in turn. Finally, Benny said "No clue," and the others seemed happy with this explanation.

Harry watched them for a while. He realized that the kids smelled terrible. They probably hadn't had a proper bath in about a year.

"Um… so, what do you guys do?"

"We just try to survive. We can't blend in at muggle orphanages, and can't pay tuition to any schools, so we just do whatever we can."

"I think I know a place in London where we could all stay," said Harry, thinking of the Black household which was the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix and was still often used by Lupin, Moody, Tonks, and other members of the resistance.

"We're not looking for charity," Zack said, tracing lines in the air with his cigarette. "We were looking for a friend.

"Sorry, I was just offering…"

"We live on our own," explained Sarah. "We do what we want to do. We have no rules. Ever since our mentor was sent to Azkaban, nearly a year ago, we've been alone, our own masters."

"I didn't mean to-" began Harry.

"No need to apologize," said Annette.

"So who was this mentor?"

"The mentor went around the wizarding world looking for orphans. He found the six of us, raised us, fed us, clothed us, and taught us all he knew about magic. He taught us how to focus, to see things that aren't really there. He also taught us practical skills, like how to hide in shadows and pick locks, and even how to persuade people to give us what we need."

"He sounds like a nice guy. Why was he sent to Azkaban?"

"Well, he was put under the Imperious curse by Lord Voldemort - this was back when no one believed he had returned – and killed a man. And he wasn't ever exactly the most law-abiding man. To tell you the truth, he was slightly crazy. But he was a genius."

As she was finishing her story, Hedwig, Harry's owl, flew in, and landed on Harry's shoulder. Harry stroked her, smiling.

"Oh! It's a real wizard's owl!" Sarah said, squealing with delight.

"Can we barrow it? We should send a letter up to the Greg," Amy said.

"Who's Greg?" asked Harry.

"He was an old member of the gang. He was adopted by a muggle family in France who had another wizard for a son. He goes to Beauxbatons."

"Oh… yeah, sure, but I have to attach another message too."

"Sure."

He was about to use his want to cast a spell of light on his things so he could write, when he realized that he couldn't use magic in the summer. Annette seemed to realize what he was thinking, and pulled out her own wand, whispering "_Lumos_", and passing it to Harry. Harry took out his quill and ink and began another letter to Lupin, willing himself not to cry.

Remus,

How's everyone there? Is Mad-Eye back from his mission? Did you hear anything from Hagrid about Gawp? I'm going into London; the Dursleys kicked me out until next summer. I'll see you soon at Grimmauld Place, if that's okay.

Harry

He looked it over, rolled it up, and attached it to Hedwig. Soon afterwards, Sarah brought over her note, looking closely at the owl.

"I love owls! What kind is she?"

"She's a snowy owl. She's a great hunter."

Sarah poked and prodded at Hedwig, much to the latter's discomfort, and then, after Hedwig ruffled her feathers and snapped at it, Sarah attached her letter, and Hedwig took off. She soared out the door, and Sarah hurried to the window to watch her soar off into the starlight, visible by the red glow of Harry's ink. Annette walked over and took her wand back.

"Darn that's some bright ink," Zack said. "Can I have a light?"

"Err… I don't have any matches or…"

Zack dipped the cigarette into the ink, and pulled it out, glowing, and grinned.

"Wow, liquid fire ink," Sarah said as Hedwig flew off into the night. She ran over and stared at the dancing flames in the bottle.

"Err… yeah…"

"She takes an interest in everything," said Annette. "She's sort of curious but rather annoying as well…"

"Am not!"

"Are too!" said Kevin.

"Shut up, both of you," yelled Benny. "I'm really tired after last night, and I'm going to sleep."

"Harry, you want to go into London, right?" asked Annette.

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"It was a lucky guess. I'll take you there. The last train of the day comes in a couple of minutes, and we can sneak on."

Harry could probably get to London by himself, but he decided not to protest against going with Annette, because he'd probably be thankful for her company. He was very glad he'd met the Forgotten; they were the only people besides Mrs. Figg from the wizarding world that he had talked to face-to-face all summer. He smiled and nodded in appreciation, and packed his quills and parchment back into his trunk. As he was doing so, he noticed the reflection of the flames in the Fire Ink reflected on the silver surface of the Drakhen. It seemed as mysterious as ever, and Harry longed to touch it, to open it, to see what was inside, but he held himself back, covered it with a pair of socks Dobby the house-elf had made for him, and shut the suitcase.

"Let me come too! I've never been under a real invisibility cloak!" Sarah said.

"We're not going to use the cloak."

"We're not?" Harry asked.

"We might have to move fast, and the cloak will just encumber us."

"Just let me come!"

"Fine, three is safer than two."

"Is there something we should worry about?" said Harry.

"Yes. This train is being watched by Death Eaters. They want us nearly as much as they want you."

"Why?"

"They want us because we can focus. The only other known wizard besides us and the mentor that can do so is Dumbledore."

"But it just lets you see through invisibility cloaks…"

"Well, no, not exactly. If you're focused, you can sense everything that is there, but you can also find traces of things that were there up to a day before. You can find out exactly where someone has been within the past day if you truly wanted to. You can even sense feelings and true intentions. If we put our minds together with the mentor, it might be possible to pinpoint Voldemort's location. It's not a well-known power and takes years of practice to gain."

"And the Death Eaters…"

"They want to kill us because we can find out who's a Death Eater and who's not, who's under the Imperius curse, and even pinpoint Voldemort's location. They got the mentor last year put in Azkaban, though I don't see why they didn't just kill him. After being tortured for days with the Crucias curse, he told them that he had trained us. Even if we wanted to, we couldn't stay in one place for very long."

They stopped talking for a little bit, and Harry gathered up his things. There was a sort of tense silence, then the train arrived with a whistle, and Sarah reached out and pushed the door button.

"See you tomorrow, right?" said Amy.

"Yep," replied Annette. "Let's meet up by the farm."

"Nice meeting you, Harry," said Kevin and Zack nodded.

Harry jumped onto the train, hauling along his trunk and Hedwig's cage, and Sarah was immersed in inspecting every detail of Harry's Firebolt, poking it and prodding it. Annette followed, and pointed to a seat in the middle of the car. Harry threw his stuff onto the luggage rack and collapsed sleepily in a chair next to Annette and Sarah.

"How long does it take to get into London by train?" asked Harry.

"We should be there in about an hour if everything goes alright. Where in London do you want to go?"

"Although the ministry is now involved in the planning of the war, the old Order of the Phoenix headquarters is still being used often by members of the resistance. Lupin, Moody and Tonks have effectively moved in. I think I'll go there. You guys should be safe there, if you want to stop in for the night."

"Hmm… I guess it couldn't hurt. We could use a good meal and a bath, but we'll be gone by six in the morning."

They lapsed into silence, broken only by Sarah's screams of delight as she looked at Harry's broomstick. Harry looked around the train. This car was completely empty, and from what he saw through the windows on the doors, the other cars were as well. He was certainly glad to have Sarah and Annette there, because it was certainly empty and slightly eerie. One of the florescent lights kept flashing on and off strangely. Harry pressed his head against the window, but could see only darkness. The train slowed down and stopped at the next station. At this stop, twenty or so passengers got onto their car. The car had gone from empty to halfway full at one stop. Strangely enough, Harry could see no one entering any of the other cars.

"Don't look," hissed Annette below her breath. "But there are Death Eaters. Two rows behind us, there are two wearing business suits. There's one on the other side one row in front wearing the red sweatshirt. The rest are muggles the Death Eaters paid off to cover their tracks."

"What should we do?"

"Nothing yet. Stay inconspicuous. Don't let them know we saw them."

Sarah replaced the broomstick on the rack, and sat down. She looked very calm, but her hand was shaking slightly. The train stopped at the next stop. No one got on or off. The doors shut, and the train was rolling again. The silence was uncanny. Not even the muggles were talking very much. As the train picked up speed, Sarah leaned in to talk to Harry and Annette.

"One of the bad thingies back there just took out his wandy thingy and looks ready to cast a spell."

"Right," breathed Annette, "when I say go, let's stun them. Harry, you get the one in front, Sarah the one behind on the left, and I'll do the right one. Ready…"

But they didn't have a chance. All three Death Eaters stood up at the same moment and yelled "EXPELLIMENTARUS!"

Harry and the two Forgotten fell back in their seats, the wind knocked out of them, and three wands flew through the air.


	4. Chapter 4: A Battle on the Train

**Chapter 4: A ****Battle**** on the Train**

"Get down!" Harry shouted, rolling beneath the seat.

The Death Eaters were advancing from either side; the muggles had turned to watch.

"CRUCIO!" yelled another one, aiming a green bolt straight for Sarah, who was watching the other two.

Harry rolled into her and pushed her out of the way, the curse barely missing his foot.

"Sarah, stay put and focus on staying alive. Annette, crawl under the seats and get the fire extinguisher at the other end, we can use that as a weapon to get our wands back. I'll distract them."

Harry rolled out into the aisle and grabbed a pole. Gripping as far as he could reach, he pulled himself up, dodging two stunners that collided and fizzled just below him. One death eater was nearing him, and, seeing his face, Harry realized it was Lucius Malfoy. Gathering up all the hatreds he had for Lucius and his son, Draco, he kicked out his feet sideways, gripping the pole tightly for torque. Lucius fell backward into a muggle, and both tumbled to the ground. 

Another death eater came from the other side and held his wand towards Harry.

The Death Eater behind him shouted "ENERGESTIA!"

A bolt of lighting arced from the tip of his wand to the tip of the other Death Eater's wand.

That Death Eater turned towards Harry, and, in one fluid motion, shouted "DESTRUCTIFY!"

The pole Harry was holding on to disintegrated. Harry fell onto a nearby unoccupied seat, and climbed to the top of it. He began to run towards the same end of the car that Annette was going to, jumping between the tops of seats.

The empowered Death Eater yelled "LUMOS!"

With the power from the other man's wand in it, the spell created a jet of yellow light that hit Harry. Everything went white. Harry felt himself fall, and desperately climbed under a seat, waiting for the blinding effect to wear off.

He heard Lucius's voice yell "CRUCIO!"

Harry heard it coming from the right, faster than he could counter it. He dodged sideways and felt the wind next to him – it had just missed him. He realized that they weren't trying to kill him; they were trying to capture him alive. Voldemort seemed to want something else with him.

Harry's vision swam back into view. Staring through the brightness, he could see that Annette, on the other side of the aisle, was only a few seats away from reaching the fire extinguisher.

"CRUCI-" Lucius began to yell.

Harry then saw a flash of red hair. Sarah was upon him, kicking and biting, grabbing for the wand with all her strength.

"NO! Sarah, get back!"

But it was too late.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" yelled the empowered Death Eater.

Rather than the usual jet of green light, a rainbow, both beautiful and terrible, arched out of the empowered wand. It was moving much slower than the usual green jet, but somehow gave the impression that it was also far more powerful. Harry looked desperately around as the rainbow got closer and closer. Behind him there was a trashcan. He kicked out at it, praying, and it slid across the floor. Just as the beam was about to hit Sarah, the trashcan hit her instead, sending her flying back in the opposite direction of the end of the car and trailing old banana peals and sandwich wrappers. The beam hit the ground, and the energy spread, killing seven muggles. They simply died, their faces locked in expressions horror. Most of the other muggles ducked for cover. The blast radius sent wind spreading around it that knocked all three death eaters off their feet.

This was his chance! Harry rolled out from under the seat and into the aisle and ran towards the nearest death eater, the one who had empowered the other. It was Macnair, who had Harry's wand in his hand. Macnair sprung up and jumped backwards, arcing over Harry's head, and grabbed Harry in a rather strong headlock. Harry kicked out and hit Macnair in the crotch. Macnair stumbled for a second and fell with a whimper of pain. Harry grabbed his wand and Macnair's and checked on his comrades. Annette was just getting to the fire extinguisher. She smashed the glass. As she did, an alarm went off through the train. Water poured from the ceiling, drenching all of them. Harry then looked back at Sarah. Lucius and the other Death Eater were advancing on her. The other Death Eater was empowering Lucius.

"ISCIO!" yelled Lucius.

All the present water that was falling turned into shards of ice, bouncing off the wet floor. Harry threw the extra wand to Annette, who had the fire extinguisher in one hand. Annette caught it and looked over at Sarah.

"STUPEFY!" yelled Lucius, not giving up on Sarah.

Three stunners shot forth, one to the left, one to the right and one straight foreword.

"Duck!" screamed Annette. Sarah did so, but the stunner shooting straight at her seemed to home in on her, aiming down. She couldn't get down the aisle because of the other two stunners blocking the way. But, Annette had a plan. "ACCIO SARAH!" she yelled. Sarah slid along the wet corridor, passing just under the two additional stunners and flew to the end of the car. Macnair recovered, and the Death Eater that Harry had not yet seen the face of threw Sarah's wand to him.

"Sarah! Open the door!" yelled Annette.

Sarah pushed open the door that led to the next car, which was the last car on the train. It was empty except for one muggle at the middle of the car who was covering himself under his seat. Annette rolled the fire extinguisher down the aisle towards Macnair. 

"DESTRUCTIFY!" Harry yelled, pointing his wand at it. 

The fire extinguisher exploded into a blast of liquid CO2 which sent Macnair flying up to the ceiling. Harry heard a crack, and Macnair's limp body fell to the floor. Lucius and the other Death Eater jumped over it. 

The other death eater broke off the empowerment and yelled "ACCIO ICE SHARDS!" 

The shards of ice that Lucius's cold spell had produced flew up and hovered before him.

Harry and Annette followed Sarah quickly into the last car. The fire alarm was going off in here too, and the ceiling was diligently raining down cascades of liquid. The Death Eaters disparated from behind them and apperated at the end of the car. The mysterious Death Eater flicked his wand and the ice shards shot forth like a machine gun at three renegades. Annette slid under the seat to the right and Sarah to the left, leaving Harry to fall down and skid foreword across the wet ground dodging heavy fire of ice particles. 

"STUPEFY!" yelled Harry, aiming right at the feet of the mysterious Death Eater, who folded up and fell to the ground. Lucius was the only Death Eater left.

"CRUCIO!" yelled Lucius.

The curse sped through the air straight at Harry. Harry was in between seats and had no where to dodge. He gritted his teeth and awaited the pain he had experienced once before, a pain great enough to make Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom insane.

"Take this! WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA!" Harry heard Annette shout as she sent the muggle's suitcase flying towards Harry.

Harry grabbed it and held it up, blocking the curse. The entire suitcase exploded in his hands, but Harry was unhurt. The other death eater was back on his feet.

Both Death Eaters yelled "CRUCIO!" simultaneously, and there were no more suitcases with which to block the curse.

Harry rolled to his feet and jumped against the wall. Pushing with all his energy, he rebounded against that wall and went shooting across the car, above both curses. He hit a window on the other side and fell down into a seat. He was only one row away from Lucius and the other Death Eater, but at such a close range, Harry wouldn't have time to dodge any curse they sent at him. The Death Eaters seemed to realize this.

Lucius empowered the other death eater with an "ENERGESTIA!" and the other one yelled "CRUCIO!"

The spell was rapid-fire. Dozens of smaller curses shot all over the area. Harry had to jump to avoid them as they smashed on the ground and ricocheted off in all directions. He looked hastily behind him. Sarah and Annette were both nearby. Harry made a desperate lunge and grabbed Lucius by his feet. Lucius plummeted to the ground. The other Death Eater looked up at Annette, who was preparing to cast a spell, and seemed to deem her the bigger threat.

He pointed his wand at her and yelled "EXPELLIMENTARUS!"

Macnair's wand, which Annette was using, flew into the Death Eater's waiting hands. The Death Eater smiled in triumph. Lucius kicked Harry hard. Harry slid back across the floor to next to where Sarah was crawling underneath a seat, just as Annette flew back to a seat just in front of them on the other side. Harry looked desperately around – he couldn't fight two fully-trained Death Eaters alone, as both Sarah and Annette had no wand, and he couldn't bet that his luck that he'd been having recently would continue. It was difficult to think with the searing pain in his head from Lucius's kick. However, Sarah found the answer.

"Get to that emergency escape!" Sarah screamed, water pouring off her hair.

Harry, being the tallest by far, jumped onto a seat near it and pushed himself through onto the top of the train car. He looked back down, and pulled Sarah through.

But then both Death Eaters pointed their wands straight at Annette and in tandem yelled "AVADA KEDAVRA!"

The killing curses shot straight for her and were moving quickly. Harry grabbed her hands and pulled mightily. The curses ever got closer. Harry wished he was as strong as Dudley. Spending most of his life reading books and studying wizardry didn't help build muscles. However, Sarah helped, and at the last second they pulled Annette up and locked the emergency escape, hearing the curses smash the opposite wall.

They now stood atop a moving car, and, judging by the end of the train, a car that was disintegrating from the end. The Death Eaters must have been trying one last-ditch effort to capture them. "C'mon!" Harry said, and they started to run foreword. The disintegration was going faster then they could run with their slippery feet. Within a few inches of the end, it caught up.

"Jump!" yelled Harry.

They flew through the air between the cars. Harry and Annette landed safely on the other side, but Sarah was hanging on to the car by just her hands. Her body flailed wildly. Harry and Annette tried their best to help her, but the train as going so fast it was useless. And then there was a jolt. One of Sarah's hands slipped off the train. She was screaming, blowing from right to left. Harry extended his hand, and nearly fell off trying to catch Sarah. The train began to slow down and Sarah banged gruesomely into the end. Finally, they arrived at the next station, and Sarah dropped off. There were no muggles around. Harry and Annette pulled Sarah out of the track, and they went back into the first car they were in. The surviving muggles took one look at them and fled off the train.

"Whew! We made it!" Annette said, panting.

"That was fun!" said Sarah. "Let's do it again!"

"No, let's not," panted Harry with difficulty. "Once was more than good enough for me."

They looked around the now-empty car. There was a big hole blasted from where the fire extinguisher had exploded. The cascades of water had finally stopped. Macnair's body was gone; the Death Eaters must have picked it up. There were still some ice shards that littered the floor. The car looked like it had been attacked by terrorists, which, in a way, it had. Sarah and Annette had both lost their wands to the Death Eaters, but Harry still had his.

A silence filled the car. None of them talked as they went into London. But they now shared a bond of trust. They had all helped each other to defeat a common goal, and the uncertainty that the Forgotten had about Harry was gone. Harry eventually took out a book Ron had given him a long time ago called Flying With the Cannons, about his favorite Quidditch team, the Chudley Cannons. Harry hadn't looked through the book in a while, but he needed something to take his mind off all things that had recently happened.

As they went into London, some muggles got on the train, and, looking at the mess, went quickly into another car. When they reached Waterloo, all three stepped out into the bustling train station as friends. Looking up, they saw a news flash on one of he news tickers: "Train Crash: 8 Killed, 3 Wounded."

"Ooh! I've always wanted to be on the news!" said Sarah.

"You're not… unless you were wounded or killed."

"But I helped make the news! This is so much fun!"

Her speech was greeted with silence.

"Where'd you say you have to go?" asked Annette.

"12 Grimmauld Place," said Harry.

"Okay, let's take the subway."

Just as they were going towards the escalator, they saw a flash of red.

"Ooh!" said Sarah, as excited as ever. "She looks just like me! She could be my long-lost twin!"

Harry turned around. Ginny, Ron and Arthur Weasley were smiling and beckoning Harry and the Forgotten over.

"Hey, guys! How are you?" said Harry, running up.

"Couldn't be better," said Ron happily. "Mum says between Percy, the twins, and the comeback of You-Know-Who she's a wreck with stress and she needed to clean before you arrived, so that's why she's not here. Lupin sent us a note that you would be coming in. We've moved back to the Burrow, Grimmauld Place was just too creepy for us."

"Cool. What have you been up to this summer?"

"Well, we were questioned by the Ministry about the events at the end of last year, and then I went to visit the twins. Their joke shop really took off. They're expanding their franchise into Europe."

"Oh, cool. Have you seen Bill or Charlie?"

"Nope. Percy's back in good favor with Mum, but he still doesn't get along well with Dad."

As Harry and Ron were catching up, Ginny and Sarah were talking animatedly about their resemblance. To Harry, Ginny seemed much more level-headed in personality than Sarah, but they seemed to be getting along very well. Arthur was leading the party out towards a Ministry of Magic car that he had barrowed, and Annette walked behind, feeling sort of out-of-place. They stopped at Burger King and left, setting out for the Burrow. As they drove off, Harry smiled. It was the first time all summer he had been with friends.


	5. Chapter 5: Home Sweet Home

**Chapter 5: Home Sweet Home**

They pulled into the driveway at the Burrow and piled out. Mrs. Weasley was standing there to greet them, grinning.

"Hi, Harry! It's been a while since I last saw you! How have you been?"

"Oh, pretty good…"

"You should write more. Ron was certainly worried about you!" she said, making Harry feel guilty.

She then turned and took a look at Sarah and Annette.

"Arthur, are we now bringing home street urchins?"

"Well, not really, dear, they're friends of Harry's."

"Well then, wash up and then barrow some of Ginny's clothes. And try not to get the countertops messy, I just wiped them down!"

"Thank you so much for your hospitality," Annette said with a little bow. "We won't be here for long; we'll leave as soon as possible."

"That's nonsense! You can stay here forever if you want."

"Thank you kindly."

They walked inside and suddenly Sarah spotted a glowing orb sitting on a coffee table.

"Ooh, is this a real-"

"Don't touch that without washing your hands!"

Ron sighed.

"Typical."

"Yeah," Ginny added, "Mum's been having hissy fits for a while now. I think it's stress."

"Hissy fits?" demanded Mrs. Weasley. "No dinner for you tonight, young lady!"

Ginny looked resigned, as if this often happens.

"Don't worry," whispered Ron. "I'll sneak you up some candy after she goes to bed."

"So, Ron, what is that thing Sarah was pointing at?"

"Oh, that's a Luminoball -- our light source. It automatically lights up any room that we're in at night. Except, well, Mum controls it and turns it off really early. Charlie gave it to Mum last Christmas. I don't think he cares about us kids anymore."

"How'd the muggles treat you? And how did you end up running around with those girls?"

Harry told them the story including embellishment of his heroic moments on the train. Just as he was finishing up, Ron's owl, Pigwidgeon bust into the room closely followed by a rather large ball of ginger fur that was growling like mad and making some pretty impressive jumps.

"I see you're taking care of Crookshanks this summer…"

"Yeah, well, he's been a complete pest. Pig keeps teasing him. They've gotten into some terrible fights."

"Where's Hermione?"

"Well, she was at Krum's, but they had a fight, I guess, and broke up. She's coming here, I think, but she's going to visit her muggle family first."

"And, Ginny, how have you been?"

"Ugh, not so good. This has been the summer of bad relationships. Dean Thomas isn't coming back next year."

"What? Why?"

"Well, he passed enough OWLs to do what he wants to do, a career in muggle relations, and he's not coming back for NEWTs."

"Oh. Well, it sounds like this summer hasn't been too great for you guys… Hey, have either of you heard of something called a Drakhan?"

Their faces were completely blank, Harry knew that they weren't lying, but he remembered the strange way that the Forgotten acted when he asked them about it. He would have to ask Annette again.

Just then, Mrs. Weasley walked in followed by Sarah, who was pointing and asking about everything.

"Well, I'll get dinner on… Yes, dear, that's a Grogron. It makes plants grow better. No, it's not… That's a wall. Oh, my, thank you so much for pointing that fingerprint stain out!"

"Where's Annette?" asked Harry.

"She's in the shower. She'll be out momentarily. Arthur, get in here and help with dinner! You took the day off today; you have no excuse to be lazy!"

Mr. Weasley reluctantly walked into the kitchen and began helping Mrs. Weasley prepare a feast for the guests.

            "Here's your OWL results, dear," said Mrs. Weasley, handing Harry a thick envelope. Slightly worried, Harry opened them up.

Charms: Written: E Practical: O  
Transfiguration: Written: E Practical: E  
Potions: Written: O Practical: O ("Yes!" Harry screamed aloud.)  
Astronomy: Written: E Practical: excused due to circumstances  
Herbology: Written: O Practical: E ("What? An 'E'? You got bitten by that Venus Mantrap like twenty times!" said Ron, reading over his shoulder.)  
Divination: Written: P Practical: D ("I got an 'A'… I think I'm going to take it with Firenze and everything," said Ron.)  
Care of Magical Creatures: Written: A Practical: E  
Defense against the Dark Arts: Written: O Practical: O++ ("No surprises there!")  
History of Magic: Exam: T ("Yeah," said Harry defensively as Ron and Ginny tried to keep themselves from falling over with laughter, "well, I had a vision of Sirius being tortured! What could I have done?")  
Career Selection: Auror – Classes to Continue: Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, Astronomy, Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures, Defense Against the Dark Arts 

            "I can only drop two classes?"

            "Yeah, I guess so."

"Hey, do you guys have a copy of the _Prophet_ by any chance, I cancelled my subscription."

"Yeah," Ginny said, handing over a newspaper. "There's an article about Dad's office on the last page."

Harry flipped to the last page and began to read.

Disreputable Muggle Shops Trade Magical Items

LONDON – Recently, the employees of the Ministry of Magic's Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Department, Mr. Arthur Weasley and Mr. William Perkins have discovered a crime ring of muggles who trade enchanted artifacts. They have been doing so for almost three years now. Some of the enchanted items included self-cleaning dishes and anti-mosquito charms. All of the items have been found, except for a small silver key that opens an unknown lock that was lost a little more than a year ago. A reward of $500 has been set by the ministry for anyone who finds the key.

"Cool. But why do they want the key that much?"

"I have no idea… Dumbledore set the reward, not Dad's office."

"Yeah, but most real news is on the last few pages. They mostly have specials on you and Dumbledore. And, of course, there's been a lot of talk about you-know-who lately. The Ministry's been trying to locate him. There have been a couple of mysterious disappearances so far, but there's no correlation."

"Or so the Prophet says," muttered Mr. Weasley darkly.

"Oh, Dad's just a little paranoid," Ginny said.

"You don't need to be scaring Harry with all that conspiracy theory nonsense!" Mrs. Weasley said.

Harry, however, was more than interested, as was Sarah. Ron had a skeptical, but not dismissive, look on his face.

"So, what do you think?"

"I think that, although the ministry openly admits to You-Know-Who's return, they don't want to act on it. They're even cutting off alliances with other countries. Members of the senate, not the least of which is Lucius Malfoy, are more than happy to support the Dark Lord. The ministry is refusing to take any action. And Dumbledore's supporting this policy! I think Dumbledore is in on it somehow."

            He was being very vague, and Harry could see he was hiding something.

"What," Harry asked, "like he's actually a Death Eater?"

"No, I think Lucius and some other Death Eaters either bribed him or threatened him… or maybe he's even under the Imperius curse."

"No one's strong enough to put that curse on Dumbledore… And Dumbledore could easily resist it."

"Well… Dumbledore's getting old. And, maybe it's just me, but every time I see him he looks weaker. I believe something is sapping his power."

Harry found it difficult to believe that Dumbledore was in any way supporting Voldemort, but he did see that Mr. Weasley had a point. The ministry should not have been cutting off alliances at a time like this. And Dumbledore, who was back in favor, should have been doing something about it.

            "Hey, I thought Lucius Malfoy was in prison…" Ron said suddenly.

            "Well," Mr. Weasley said darkly, "he got off by claiming he was under the Imperius curse. It worked last time, too."

As Harry was lost in his thoughts, Annette walked in in a faded blue dress of Ginny's and a towel wrapped around her head. Harry noticed that without the dirt, she looked quite beautiful. She looked at Harry and smiled, and Harry, starting to feel a blush coming on, smiled back, and turned back to the table. Mrs. Weasley brought them all out hot bowls of stew.

"Well, thank you!" Harry said, finishing up his last bite. "I'll be in Ron's room?"

"Yup, and you'd better get some sleep because tomorrow we're visiting Diagon Alley. Sarah and Annette, why don't you two use the twins' old room?"

"Sure, thank you," said Annette earnestly.

Full and happy, Ron and Harry plodded up the stairs and into Ron's room. Three walls were still painted bright orange, but one wall was now lime green.

"A change of décor?" asked Harry.

"Well, sort of. Fred and George came and visited for a bit and tried out one of their new inventions, the Color Switcher. It changes the color of everything in a short radius for about an hour, except it didn't work out right. After the hour was up, my wall and Dad's hair didn't change back."

"Really? What color was his hair?"

"White with purple polka dots. The twin had a good laugh, and then dad tried muggle dye. He washed it out to quickly, so his hair was sort of grey-white. It made him look old, except for the purple spots. He had to try three other brands of dye and some other colors before he finally let us change it back with magic."

"Why didn't you change your wall back?"

"Well, I kind of like it this way. Normally, Mum would never allow it, but since the twins did it she blames them."

"Oh, cool."

Just then, the lights throughout the house turned off, and Harry crawled into bed. He was glad to be back in the Burrow, spending the night with people he knew and cared for.

He woke up in the dead of night. There was some movement and whispering. He felt something warm brush against his cheek. Then he fell right back to sleep.

When he awoke the next morning, there was a note under his pillow. He unfolded it. There was a message scrawled in sloppy writing across it.

I love you.

Annette

He was jolted into wakefulness immediately. He read it a few more times to make absolutely certain of what it said. Then, he walked out determinedly up the rickety stairs and looked into the twins' old room. Sure enough, Sarah and Annette were gone, leaving behind no traces except for the note. Harry wandered back down the stairs, took a shower, and put on some new clothes. He put the note in his pocket for safe keeping, and went down to breakfast. Ron, Ginny and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were already pecking at toast, jam, cereal and eggs.

"Help yourself," said Mrs. Weasley, pointing to the food.

"Thanks," Harry said dreamily, thinking about the note.

It wasn't like he didn't like Annette, but did he like her in that way? Did it matter? Would he ever see her again or was she gone for good? Could Hedwig find her? But, even if she could, could they have a relationship through the mail? Harry's mind was too full of questions, and not filled enough with answers.

He was pulled out of his thoughts but a tapping at the window. Errol, the Weasley family owl, was struggling with a large envelope tied to his leg. Mrs. Weasley opened the window, and he collapsed on the table. Ginny sighed and got up to get him some water.

"Those must be your Hogwarts letters!"

"Yeah, Mum, we know."

Ron tore open the package, and sure enough there were four letters with the Hogwarts seal on them.

"The fourth one must be for Hermione," said Mr. Weasley.

Nodding, Harry unfolded his and read.

Sixth year students will require:

_The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Six_

_Summoning For Dummies_

_Seeing Is Not Always Believing_

"Wow, not too many new ones this year."

"What's Summoning?" Harry asked.

"It's a branch of Transfiguration, where a witch or wizard can create things out of thin air," Ron said. "It's extremely difficult and time-consuming, but most witches and wizards find it quite useful. What I'm wondering about, though, is this Seeing is not Believing. Do you think that's for Defense Against the Dark Arts?"

"It's got to be, unless Firenze is going to use that for divination."

"Who do you think our new teacher will be?" piped in Ginny.

"I don't know, but I heard it's a rather paranoid man," said Mr. Weasley.

"Not another professor Moody?"

"No, someone completely different. I heard he's paranoid in a different way. Keeps talking about conspiracy theories and what not. And some people say he's not entirely human."

"Wow, well it sounds like a good change from Professor Umbrige."

They all nodded in assent and laughed.

"Well, ready to go to Diagon Alley?" asked Mrs. Weasley.

"Yup."

"Then let's hit the fireplace!"


	6. Chapter 6: Hogwarts Ahoy!

**Chapter 6: Hogwarts Ahoy!**

Harry, Ron, Ginny and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley rushed into King's Cross Station trailing bags, pets and broomsticks. They burst through the barrier into platform nine and three-quarters without a hitch, and with only a few minutes to spare Harry, Ron, and Ginny said a hasty Goodbye and jumped onto the Hogwarts Express. Ron went off to the prefect's car and Harry and Ginny located a compartment with Neville and Luna Lovegood who had become good friends after the incident at the end of last year. Hermione was still nowhere to be found, she hadn't turned up all summer.

"What's up?" said Harry to no one in particular, collapsing ungraciously on a seat opposite Luna.

"Gran gave me a new plant!" said Neville happily. "It's called a dragonfly bud, because dragonflies come out of ever pod! And I got two OWLs!"

"Good job."

Just then the train moved out, and Harry and Ginny turned to wave goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.

"How about you, Luna?"

"Well, Dad's paper is going well. They're expanding."

"That's–" began Harry.

"GET OFF!" screamed Ginny, fighting with a mad blob of green.

"Yeah, it's mating season for tree frogs. Trevor's been very aggressive lately."

Just then, the compartment door opened. Harry turned to look, but the shadows predicted the worst. Standing there was Malfoy, looking as slick as ever framed by his mates, Crabbe and Goyle.

"Hi," Malfoy said with a smile. "You must be the famous Harry Potter. Yes, what a pretty little scar you have there."

            Harry didn't understand. What was wrong with Malfoy?

"You know me, Malfoy."

"I do? I don't think we've met before. You probably know my brother's friends, Vince and Greg."

"Your brother…?"

"I'm Devin Malfoy, Draco's twin brother," Malfoy said, extending a hand. "And I'm sure we'll get off to a great start."

They stared at one another. It was bad enough having one Malfoy at Hogwarts, but two of them would be a nightmare. And, since when did Hogwarts accept new students in the sixth year?

"Wow, Draco was right about the trash you hang out with. A half-blood squib, a loser and a Weasley… need I say more?"

Crabbe and Goyle chuckled approvingly.

"You'd better watch your tongue, Devin Malfoy. It's four against three here and I believe your brother's little friends can't really cast magic that well."

"Really? And that squib there can? And, trust me; I learned a few things at my old school that they don't teach you here at Hogwarts. You are the ones who'd better watch your tongue around me. And for your information, Crabbe and Goyle have been trained in all sorts of useful hexes including the Unforgivable Curses."

Chortling, the new Malfoy and his friends left, shutting the compartment door behind them.

"Now there are two of them," Neville said miserably. "And that one's just as arrogant as Draco."

"Tell me about it. This year's off to a bad start."

They sat in silence for a few more moments, then the compartment door opened and Ron walked in.

"Guess what? There's a new Malfoy."

"I know. Guess what else? Hermione's gone."

"What do you mean, gone? Like she's not coming?"

"Nobody knows. She hasn't contacted anyone in the last month or so. Dumbledore wants to get a search party out for her, but the ministry is loath to send fully-trained wizards after a child at a time like this."

"Then what's going to happen to her?"

"I don't know. I'll send Pig out looking for her as soon as we get to school," said Ron, settling into a chair.

"How'd Malfoy's brother end up coming?"

"Hogwarts is accepting new students in the sixth year. I don't know why, but I assume we'll find out at the welcome feast."

Just then, the witch with the food trolley came by and they became busy swapping sweets and chocolate frog cards, and Luna became interested in reading the new issue of the _Quibbler_.

They reached Hogsmeade Station without a hitch and rode the carts up to school. Looking around, Harry saw a number of new faces, mostly foreign, gathered together in small clusters. Malfoy's brother was entertaining a number of Slytherins by using impressive-looking spells that Harry had never seen before. Devin certainly looked talented, but, on closer inspection, all of the spells he was using were for attack.

They arrived in the Great Hall and sat at the long house tables. Looking up at the staff table, Harry raised his glass of pumpkin juice to Hagrid who smiled. Looking around the table, he saw that Dumbledore was definitely growing weaker. His face looked pale and wan, and he seemed to be sitting still to conserve his strength. Harry wondered if he was just ill, but magic could cure most illnesses, and he couldn't imagine a wizard as powerful as Dumbledore coming down with a bad case of the flu. All the teachers Harry had known from previous years were returning, including Snape who was looking as sour as ever (apparently he didn't get the Dark Arts job) and there was one new teacher, whose face was hidden under a dark cowl. He looked more like a practitioner of the Dark Arts than a defender.

Harry glanced around for the new students, but they had traveled with Hagrid across the lake with the first years. Once everyone was seated, Professor McGonagall stood up and tapped her glass. She proceeded to help Dumbledore stand up, who walked unsteadily foreword to begin the commencement speech.

"Ah, a new year! Seeing all these bright faces brings energy back to this sick, old man! Well, without further ado, let us begin the sorting."

McGonagall brought out a stool with the sorting hat on it. Two groups of students followed it in – the first years, who now looked very small to Harry, and the new sixth years. The school awaited the sorting hat, which took a deep breath of air and erupted in song.

_Long ago, when times were troubled_

_Great wizards came and created me_

_And then one great wizard bubbled,_

_"In four houses students should be"_

_Great Gryffindor was fierce and bold_

_And rode upon the lion_

_Wearing their red and gold_

_Gryffindors are never cryin'_

_Smooth Slytherin was smart and wily_

_Ambitious to the last_

_Today, Slytherins are proud and guiley_

_And won't settle for less than bast_

_Keen Ravenclaw was quick and clever_

_She always knew what was what_

_Ravenclaws fail at no endeavor_

_And are never stuck in a rut_

_Kind Hufflepuff was good and loyal_

_With her friends she loved the most_

_Hufflepuffs get through any toil_

_And get what they are owe'st_

_Now today, I split you up_

_Into the four great houses_

_After this, you may sup_

_And eat your meals like mouses_

"To encourage positive relations with other countries," continued Dumbledore as the song ended, "we have decided to accept transfer students. Only three wizarding schools, Daumstrung, Beauxbatons and our own Hogwarts are licensed to teach beyond the OWL level to the NEWT level. Thus, students from other schools will, starting this year, begin to join us in their sixth year. Please give these students a warm welcome and make them feel at home here at their new school. Let us first begin by sorting the new first-years.

Harry watched as the new first-years got up to be sorted. The new Gryffindors didn't seem like a bad bunch of kids to live with. After all the first-years had joined their respective houses, the sixth-years got up. They were mostly foreign, and looked as scared as the first-years about arriving at a new school. They stared around at the faces of the present Hogwarts students, and most of the Hogwarts students stared back. There were lots of Asians and Americans, as most Europeans went to either Daumstrung or Beauxbatons for their NEWT training.

Harry scanned the new students. Sure enough, Malfoy's brother was up there with a confident little smile. Next to him was a tall, cute American girl with an innocent face and long, brown hair. She was chatting with two Korean girls with short hair who both wore blue and red sashes. Behind them, a Nigerian boy and a Turkish boy were seeing how high they could toss their wands up to the starry ceiling. When they noticed everyone watching, they hastily stopped.

"Aotai, Chinua" called Professor McGonagall.

The Nigerian boy stepped foreword and put the hat on his head.

There was a short pause before the hat yelled, "RAVENCLAW!"

"Choi, Gin-Yin"

One Korean girl stepped foreword and became a new Slytherin. The hat sorted out the kids into the three other houses, but no new Gryffindors had come up. Finally, it was Malfoy's turn.

"Malfoy, Devin"

Everyone expected it to be like Draco Malfoy's sorting – as soon as the hat had touched Draco's head, it screamed Slytherin. However, when Devin put it on, there was a pause. A number of the Slytherins looked quite expectant. Then, when the sorting hat chose Devin's house, for the first time Harry had ever heard, its voice was shaky.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

There was a gasp from the Gryffindors. Only a few Gryffindors clapped. The Slytherins looked as happy as ever, applauding loudly. Devin walked proudly over to the Gryffindor table and plopped down across from Harry.

"You asked the hat for this house, didn't you?" said Ron.

"As a matter of fact I did, mudblood lover."

Hearing this, the few Gryffindors who were politely clapping stopped abruptly.

"Why?"

"Because Draco thought it would be fun to give Potter a little friend. Just to make sure he and his riffraff friends don't put a toe out of line."

Harry gritted his teeth, and put a hand out to stop Ron, who was quite red in the face. Ginny, too, was looking on the verge of attacking.

"Thompson, Amber" said McGonagall, snapping Harry away from the mental battle that was raging between the Weasleys and Devin.

The pretty American girl stepped up and gave a smile to the rest of the room. It looked like she was putting every ounce of effort into looking calm, but it wasn't working. She looked scared out of her mind. Harry gave her a thumbs-up as she sat down and jammed the sorting hat on her head.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

She took off the hat and hurried to the Gryffindor table where she sat next to Ginny among much clapping, and a couple of cat-calls from some of the older boys. Two more new students were sorted out, including Umiko Yomagi, a Japanese girl, who became a new Gryffindor. Once all the sorting was complete, McGonagall took the stool away and Hagrid helped Dumbledore to his feet. He was weaker than Harry had thought and gave a short cough before starting the speech.

"As we welcome new students, we also must say goodbye to some students. Many students have left after OWL level and won't be returning."

"Hermione wouldn't have left and missed her last two years, would she?" whispered Ron, leaning across the table.

"No way! She said in all her letters that she'd be here."

"Do you think that something happened to her?"

"I don't know. Maybe her parents couldn't pay her tuition," Harry said, thinking of the Forgotten.

"No, her parents are pretty well-to-do muggle dentists; I think she'll probably come in a couple of days late."

Harry sighed and leaned back. Something was wrong; it wasn't like Hermione to miss the beginning of school. Still, he'd have time to reflect on that later, Dumbledore was speaking again.

"We'd also like to welcome a new teacher to our staff, Professor Artemis."

The new teacher stood up, but did not remove his cowl or speak. The little of his face that was not covered in shadow looked more scarred than Moody's, and his eyes seemed to glow an ethereal white. There was some scattered applause before he sat back down.

"New students should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all. Mr. Filch would like me to remind you that magic is not allowed in the corridors between classes. Quidditch tryouts will be held in the next week. Thank you."

Dumbledore collapsed back down in a fit of coughing.

"Hey, what are we going to do about Quidditch?" asked Harry. "We're out five players, including a captain."

"Well, you've got to be the captain! You're the best player Hogwarts has had since Charlie!"

"I wouldn't go that far…"

"But it's true," protested Ginny. "Every time I see you out there you're doing tricks no one else could pull off."

"Oh," drawled the new Malfoy, "Draco told me about this. Perfect Potter."

"Shut up," said Ron angrily.

"I can deal with my own fights," Harry hissed to him quickly. Turning to Malfoy, Harry said, "Do you think you're better?"

"Well, we'll find out at Quidditch tryouts, won't we?"

"Well, if I'm captain, I choose weather or not you get in."

"I might prove an asset to your team. I was the best chaser at my old school up north."

"Yeah," sneered Ron, "but you're a traitor. You'd work against us in the match against Slytherin."

"Probably. But what does it matter to you, Weasley?"

"It matters because I'm the Keeper for Gryffindor!"

"And the captain," said Harry. "I think you'd be better suited to it than I would, Ron. You know so much about professional Quidditch, and I just want to play."

"What? No! I'm not a leader like you, Harry! Harry, remember last year, when you trained the whole DA?"

"Ron, you're better suited for the job than I could ever be."

"Fine, we'll both do it."

"What?"

"We're the two remaining players from before. Let's both be captain."

"Alright, I'm up for that."

They smiled as everyone in the Great Hall stood up and began to leave. Ron went ahead to lead the new Gryffindors up to the tower. They climbed through the staircases that moved, jumped over the disappearing stairs and watched the characters in the pictures move around. Harry smiled as they reached the hole guarded by the portrait of the Fat Lady. They were home at last.

"Password?" said the Fat Lady.

"Pixius Pixipestrum!" said Ron loudly, so all the new students could hear.

The portrait swung foreword and the entered into the common room, lit by a cozy fire with squashy chairs and left for their dormitories, Ron reluctantly leading Devin Malfoy into the familiar circular room with four-poster beds.

"You can use Dean's old bed," Ron said, motioning unnecessarily to the bed that was covered with Devin's belongings.

"Just like your father, Weasley, covering up your incompetence with useless little speeches and demonstrations of power."

There was silence. Harry, Ron and Neville all stared at him while Seamus tried to make himself look as miniscule as possible unpacking his bags.

"Guys, don't," said Neville. "We have more class than a Malfoy."

"Oh, the squib talks!" Malfoy said with a sneer. "Be careful, Longbottom, that you don't go like your parents."

Now it was Harry and Ron's turn to hold Neville back.

"Be careful, now," said Malfoy. "You don't want to be expelled on your first day back."

Seamus turned and said, "You know, he does have a point. Please don't fight all night, I want to get some rest."

They all turned away, angrily. Harry threw himself into bed, and slowly heard Seamus, Neville, and Ron drift off to sleep with not-so-gentle snores. Harry tossed and turned in bed. He thought of Annette and Amber, of the Forgotten and of Sirrus, of his mother and the Drakhen. Harry's life was more complicated than ever. Just as he was falling asleep, he heard someone crying. Hazily, Harry looked over at Devin Malfoy, whose face was lined with tears. Then, Harry fell asleep.


	7. Chapter 7: Classes Without Hermione

**Chapter 7: Classes Without Hermione**

At breakfast the next morning, there was still no sign of Hermione. They all wolfed down their food, talking little. Devin was sitting with his brother at the Slytherin table, which was usually frowned upon, but not against the school rules. Dumbledore was absent from the staff table. Across from Harry sat Amber, the new American girl. She really was pretty, and had an innocent little smile on her face. Thinking of Annette and his previous relationship with Cho Chang, Harry wondered if he was destined to like all the girls he couldn't have. He mustered up his courage to talk to her.

"Hey, I'm Harry."

She looked somehow relieved that someone was talking to her. Harry expected her and Umiko to have become good friends, both being new to the school, but they were sitting apart from one another.

"I'm Amber. Nice to meet you."

_What should I say next?_ Harry asked himself.

"Uh… so where do you come from?"

"My parents were part of the Salem Witches Guild in Massachusetts. How about you?"

"I'm Harry Potter."

"Yeah, you said before. But where are you from?"

Had she not heard of him? Maybe he was only famous here in England.

"I'm from around here. I'm an orphan, and send the summer with my aunt and uncle, who are muggles."

"Oh, cool. It's so different here."

"How so?"

"Well, everything is so… I don't know… _grand_ here. The school is so big. Salem is the largest witching town in all of America, but even at the Academy, there were only a quarter of the students here. All the grades were taught at once."

"Most muggle schools are much bigger than this…"

"Yeah, but there are many more muggles than witches and wizards."

"So, what did you study in Salem?"

"Probably all the things you studied here, except we didn't have any elective courses back there."

"What electives did you choose here?"

"Care of Magical Creatures sounded cool, and I'm also going into Muggle Studies. Salem is a very closed community of witches and wizards."

"Cool. So, uh, how was your first night here?"

"Everyone was talking about our prefect, Hermione. She's missing. Pravati Patil took over showing us all around. I heard some yelling from your room, did something happen?"

"Err, kind of. Don't worry about it."

"You weren't fighting, were you?"

"No."

"So, what did you do this summer?"

"I stayed over at Ron's. You?"

"I visited my cousins in Vermont."

"Was that fun?"

"Kind of. They're really into American Quidditch."

"Is American Quidditch different from regular Quidditch?"

"American Quidditch is played with wands. Chasers can use only spells to call or shoot the ball around, and beaters can use stunners and such. Also, there's no seeker or snitch. The game ends at a certain time. It's also much faster, and it's more like a duel."

"It sounds like lots of fun. So, are you going to come out for the Quidditch tryouts here?"

"I wouldn't miss them for the world," she said, grinning.

Just then, the mail arrived. Owls swooped all over. Harry looked up to see Hedwig diving down towards him. Harry took two rolls of parchment off her leg and gave her some eggs.

"Is that your owl?" asked Amber.

"Yeah, do you have a pet?"

"I have a Pegasus."

"What? Aren't they like, gigantic?"

"No, they're tiny little winged horses. In America, we use them as well as owls to deliver mail."

"Ah. Cool."

Harry slid open the first parchment and began to read.

Hey Harry,

Annette and Sarah talked a lot about you. Apparently, you did really well on the train. Benny and Zack got in big trouble with the ministry, so now we're running from both sides. Sarah's looking good, Kevin sends his greetings, and I'm just trying my best… I wouldn't write, except for Annette. She's been talking about you a lot. She doesn't want to write you, so I've done it for her. She wants to meet you. I'll send you further details later.

Amy and the rest of the Forgotten

"Who's that from?" asked Ron, leaning over.

"Remember Annette and Sarah? It's from some of their friends."

"Oh, cool. How about that one?"

Harry and Ron – Tea at four?

Cheers, Hagrid.

"It's from Hagrid. Want to go down there at four?"

"Sure!"

"Can I come too?" asked Ginny.

"Sure, no problem."

Just then, McGonagall came by, passing out their schedules. Harry unfolded his, and looked at it.

"What do you have?" asked Ron.

"Today we have double Transfiguration in the morning. Later, we have Potions with the Slytherins and then Dark Arts. I wonder if Artemis will be a good teacher."

"I hope so. He looks kind of weird."

"Yeah, but so does Moody."

"No, this guy looks weirder than Moody. Why doesn't he show his face? And why do his eyes shine like that?"

"I have no idea. We'll find out today."

"Let's go."

"Yeah. See you later, Amber."

They plodded away towards Professor McGonagall's first class in Summoning. Summoning was actually the transfiguration of air. One of the greatest masters of Summoning was none other than Dumbledore himself. They were starting out simple; they needed to create a mothball. Harry didn't realize how much he and Ron had depended on Hermione to teach them their subjects. Harry's mothball was a actually a moss ball, and Ron's wand went out of control, repeatedly creating mothballs until there was a pile nearly three feet high on his desk and Professor McGonagall had to stop it. Neville instead created a moth, which McGonagall applauded him for, as they usually didn't learn creature summoning until seventh year, though Harry thought it was sort of the opposite effect of what they were trying to do. Devin Malfoy's was perfect, though it gave off a horrible stench. Lavender Brown's was about two feet across, and Pravati Patil accidentally changed professor McGonagall's coffee cup into one instead of thin air. Harry looked over at amber's and was glad to see that she wasn't perfect. Her mothball was as bouncy as a tennis ball.

As the lesson ended, Harry remembered a question that he had had on his mind for a while. He raised his hand.

"Yes, Mr. Potter?"

"Professor, do you know anything about something called a Drakhen?"

"Certainly. Drakhens are buildings inside small wooden boxes. They work sort of like portkeys. Any witches or wizards that are touching the Drakhen when someone opens the lock on it are sucked into the building."

"Do they all have to be wood, or could one be silver?"

"There is a tale that Salazar Slytherin's son, Damascus, created a silver Drakhen, however, as soon as he made it, the key was lost."

"Does this legend mention what building is in it?"

"No, I don't believe it does."

"Thank you, Professor," Harry said, gathering up his stuff.

"So, Perfect Potter, what was that about?" drawled Devin as they left.

"None of your business," said Harry hotly.

Amber walked up.

"Harry, he's just asking a question. You don't need to snap at him."

Devin grinned at Amber. Harry frowned, but forced himself to answer.

"I came across the word in a book I was reading and I wanted to know what it meant."

Amber and Devin walked away, and Harry and Ron went in the other direction.

"It's not that bad, man," said Ron, seeing the look on Harry's face.

"You don't understand."

"Yeah, she's cute, but so what?"

"I guess so. But I'm still angry about it."

They eat lunch at the opposite end of the table from Amber who was in deep conversation with Devin Malfoy (who was sitting with his fellow Gryffindors today) and talked about Quidditch. Then they were off to potions with Snape. The lesson was as bad as ever, with both Malfoys making snide remarks to Harry, and Snape turning a blind eye to it all. Neville's stomach relief potion exploded all over the room, causing more than enough chaos, and Professor Snape docked 5 points from Gryffindor, losing them the five points Devin had earned in Transfiguration. Devin didn't seem to mind at all.

After potions was Defense Against the Dark Arts. Professor Artemis was nowhere to be found. The walls were bare except for a pentagram painted in fire on the end wall and a shelf of potions. One was clogging up the room with thick, white smoke and another was a brain suspended in a green liquid, something Harry would expect in Snape's office. On his desk was a red sextant that looked somehow alive and was breathing. Just as the last few students sat down, Professor Artemis entered, and the talking ceased. He was wearing the same black cowl as before, and his eyes were just as scary. Over the black robe, he now had hung a shamanic necklace of bones, beads and other seemingly useless charms. He didn't really walk as much as he shuffled, as if he was rather weak.

"Welcome," he said simply. His voice was a cross between a croak and a rasp.

All the students took out their copies of _Seeing is Not Always Believing_.

"Please open to page 22 and read," he said, skipping roll call entirely.

Harry opened the book up. On each page were very strange drawings and diagrams. The book was written in Latin, with an English translation of each page attached to the bottom. Page 12 let out a gaseous cloud of blue smoke when he got there and Page 17 curled itself up and refused to be read. Harry flipped to 22 and began to read.

Vampires

Vampires were first seen in the early 1600s when Count Ogrim was bitten by a bat. Vampires have appeared randomly throughout northern Europe since then. Contrary to legend, Vampires are not dead, but completely separate creatures from humans. There are only male vampires who must breed with female humans to continue the bloodline. Vampires feed by sucking the blood out of the neck of a victim. This usually does not kill the victim, as under a quart of blood is removed. When terribly hungry, vampires have been known, however, to suck victims dry. Dead victims do not change into new vampires. Vampires have an aversion to daylight, as sunlight takes away all their powers, but they can live through sunlight. Garlic can be used as a weapon, but only if they ingest it, in which case their powers will be rendered useless for up to forty-eight hours. Vampires have two major powers: the ability to change between their normal, humanoid form and that of a bat and the ability to freeze anyone who they touch. You should not resist a vampire that wishes to feed on you as long as he promises not to kill you. If you must fight a fully-functional vampire, keep your distance. Once a vampire is down, you must banish him with the spell of banishment or he will rise again.

"So," Artemis croaked when the last of them finished up. "What do you think about Vampires?"

"Sir, are you one?" asked Devin Malfoy. Only Amber laughed.

"No, I'm not. But I've met one. I didn't follow the book's advice, I ran from it as quickly as I could."

Judging by the shuffling walk that Artemis had used earlier, Harry doubted that that was very fast.

"So," continued Artemis, "Let's learn the banishment spell. It takes some time, so the vampire must be out cold and requires three people and a wooden stake. When all three are present, the other two must empower the first caster. After that it's a simple spell of 'DISAMINUS VAMPYRICA'.

"Get into groups of three and take a dummy and a stake from over there to practice with. Take turns at being the primary caster."

"Wow, he's a really cool teacher," said Ron, pairing up with Harry and Neville, the later of whom seemed scared half to death.

"Sort of. But that eye thing is creeping me out."

"Yeah, me too," said Neville. "And why doesn't he show his face?"

"I don't know, but he's better than Umbrige. He's hardcore."

They all took a dummy and practiced. It took a while to get it right, but when they did, a beam of blue light shot out of the wand and twisted its way down the stake, and spread throughout the dummy. On Neville's first try, he burned up the stick, but even he was able to get it at some point. He was doing much better this year than at previous years, and he looked a bit better. Harry wondered if Neville's parents might be getting better. Harry glanced behind him, and saw Pravati, Lavender and Umiko working together, and behind them, Malfoy, Seamus, and (to Harry's horror) Amber.

After class, they walked out to Hagrid's cabin, where a class of Ravenclaws was breaking up, with open mouths and whispering excitedly.

"That first lesson was awesome!" said Luna as she passed Harry.

"Okay, now I can't wait for tomorrow," said Ron.

Ron and Harry met Ginny by Hagrid's cottage and they went in. Hagrid looked better than the last year, and his dog, Fang was excitedly jumping up and down trying to reach a deer that hung from the ceiling.

"How you bin, Harry?" asked Hagrid as they went in.

"Pretty well. How about you? Is Gawp still here?"

"Olympe's taking care o' 'im. He's talkin' righ' now."

"Oh, wow. So, what did you do this summer?"

"I spent most of my time with the ministry. And Dumbledore, he's not doing too well."

"Yeah, what happened to him?"

"I don' know. E's bin gettin' weaker all summer. And he's bin standin' by as Lucius Malfoy has ruined the ministry."

"What's he been doing?"

"Oh, little things. He's bin tellin' Fudge to stop alliances and what not. Politics."

He was being vague, just like Mr. Weasley. What exactly _was_ Lucius up to?

"Have you had any word from Hermione?"

"Not fer a month or so. I heard she's not here."

"Yeah, she's late. I don't know what's up with her."

They continued to talk for about an hour and then walked back to the castle as it was getting dark. They learned one important thing: people were covering up exactly what Lucius was doing. The _Prophet_ had no mention of him. Something was going on, and no one was willing to tell Harry. He wondered, too, about the Drakhen. Could his Drakhen be the silver Drakhen in the legend? If so, where could he get the silver key? Could the Forgotten know anything about it? They certainly reacted strangely when he brought it up. Also, there was the note from Amy and the way Amber and the new Malfoy seemed to be good friends so soon. Amber seemed really nice in the morning over breakfast, but somehow, she had changed. Just as they were walking back, he ran into Amber and Devin standing in the hall, talking.

"Oh, look, it's Potter flanked by two Weasleys."

Draco strode up behind them with Crabbe and Goyle, grinning.

"It's five against three now."

"I'm staying out of this!" said Amber.

"So," Draco said, "are you going to call a teacher? I'd say call your mommy, but, Potter, your mommy's dead."

There was a piercing silence.

"You're going to pay for that one," Harry said in a low voice. He reached for his wand.

"Really?" Draco said. "SLISICUS!"

A blue blade shot from Draco's wand. Ginny and Ron pushed Harry down. The blade shot over their heads and hit Amber. Amber screamed, and worms erupted from her ears.

"IDIOT! WHY'D YOU HAVE TO DO THAT!?" she yelled.

"I'm sorry, I-" began Draco. 

It was the first time Harry had seen Malfoy apologize to a Gryffindor.

"IT'S HARRY'S FAULT! HARRY, STAY AWAY FROM ME, YOU CREEP!"

And she ran up the stairs and away. The Malfoys, Crabbe, and Goyle chortled.

"Why'd you push me down?" demanded Harry as they walked away.

"Because we didn't want you fighting in corridors," said Ginny.

"Damn it, Draco insulted my family!"

"Yes, and you had every right to fight him, but not then and there," said Ron.

Fuming, Harry climbed the stairs in silence until they reached the picture hole. They said the password and climbed in. Harry could hear Amber crying from her dormitory. Angry at himself for causing even more pain, he stomped away up the stairs. He didn't hear Ron's footsteps behind him.

"Harry," said Ron seriously from below.

"What now?"

"I think you should come look at this…"

Harry walked over to one of the squashy chairs that Ron was pointing at. Asleep in the chair was Hermione, her hair matted with blood.


	8. Chapter 8: The Attack on Anderton

**Chapter 8: The Attack on Anderton**

            "Hermione! Hermione!"

            Hermione's eyes opened slightly. She looked through them, apparently seeing nothing, and then comprehended what was happening.

            "Harry! Ron! Oh, I'm so glad you're here! It was terrible…"

            Harry glanced around the common room, but there were only some second years playing Gobstones and a stressed-out seventh year doing his best to complete her charms homework. Most people were at dinner, so they could talk safely.

            "So, do we really have to ask?"

            Hermione gave a weak smile, and then grabbed them both in a hug.

            "I missed you so much!"

            Then she released them, and, businesslike, turned to Harry.

            "Can I barrow Hedwig? I need to send a letter to my parents telling them I'm alright."

            "Sure thing, she's up in the Owlery right now… but Hermione, you're _not_ alright!"

            "I'll be right back," she said, ignoring Harry's last comment.

            They watched her climb through the portrait hole and looked at each other. There was a short pause.

            "What do you think happened?" asked Ron.

            "I don't know…"

            "Do you reckon we should have let her sleep… she looked really tired."

            "Probably. But we need to know what's going on. Whatever did that to her might be chasing her here."

            "Do you reckon we should tell a teacher?"

            "Knowing Hermione, everyone including Dumbledore knows by now. Although, from what we saw of him at the welcome feast, he's not looking too good."

            "I just realized something," said Ron. "Dumbledore was the only person You-Know-Who ever feared. This means…"

            "Yeah, we're pretty much screwed."

            "Wow… with this, and then the Death Eaters you met on the train this summer… something's seriously wrong here."

            "Let's here what Hermione has to say. She might be able to shed some light on what's going on."

            They sat in silence, watching the kids play Gobstones until they heard someone coming through the portrait hole. They looked back immediately, but it was only a fourth year going up to his room to get something.

            "This is so tense."

            "Tell me about it. Where is she, she's taking a while!"

            After what seemed like an eternity, they heard the Portrait creak open again, and saw Hermione crawling through. Harry noticed she was covered in scars and scratches that suggested she had run through a forest.

            "Alright," said Harry as Hermione resumed her old position, "are you ready to tell us what happened?"

            Hermione nodded and swallowed. The seventh year picked up his books and left for dinner, and the fourth year followed him out. The silence was thick, as if molasses had evaporated into the air. Harry and Ron stared at Hermione, waiting. She swallowed again and began.

            "This summer, after leaving Viktor's house, I went to go visit my aunt and uncle in a town called Anderton. Well, it's not really a town. There are only about a hundred people there, and no shops or anything. It's terribly boring, everyone hates it there, but it's their vacation rest home. Everyone ends up watching TV the whole time…"

            "Hey, Timmy the Tooth's on!" shouted Marybeth, Hermione's little cousin, to Robbie, her other cousin.

            "I'm brushing my teeth," Robbie said badly through a mouthful of toothpaste.

            "What on earth are you doing that for?" asked Hermione, exasperated. "You did it like two minutes ago. I mean, I know that everyone in the family is a dentist but…"

            "But that was with an electric toothbrush," Robbie said, wiping his mouth as he entered the room. "An electric toothbrush is great for getting plaque, but not so good at getting between the teeth or down to the gums."

            "Did you wash your mouth?" asked Marybeth.

            "Twice, for five minutes each time, plus one saline wash for three!" Robbie said proudly.

            "And floss?" asked Hermione dully.

            "Oh! Thanks, Hermione, I didn't get the bottom half when I was flossing. Stupid me."

            Sighing, Hermione lay back on her chair. It was looking to be three more days of boredom before the term at Hogwarts started. Just as she was about to get up and get a sugar-free soda, she heard a series of loud cracks, that sounded exactly like a wizard apperating or disparating. But there couldn't be any wizards here? Still, it was weird, what else could have made all those sounds. And it was still going on, there were more.

            "Oh no! Isn't that the sound made when someone cracks a tooth? Hermione, I told you not brushing after chewing that dental gum was a bad idea!" wailed Robbie.

            "Be quiet. I think something really serious is going on."

            And then she heard a scream. She ran to the window. Seven wizards in the blue robes of the Ministry of Magic's defense squad including Lucius Malfoy were running down the hill into the town. Two townsfolk lay dead on the gravel at the center of town, which every house was grouped around. Hermione looked in horror as more and more wizards rushed down the hill screaming "AVADA KEDAVRA!"

            "Stop this," yelled a shaken but strong girl's voice from just out of Hermione's range of vision. "There are only muggles here!"

            "And you!" sneered Lucius Malfoy, but, nevertheless, many of the other wizards held back. Hermione realized this wasn't a set-up by the death eaters: there were real Ministry employees back there.

            "Get them! Kill them all!" yelled Lucius.

            "But-" began a portly, older wizard.

            "Will you disobey your commanding officer's orders? GO!" screamed Malfoy.

            "If it's us you want, we'll go quietly," shouted the girl who had spoken earlier.

            But there was no use. The ministry wizards had surrounded the town and were casting killing curses on anyone who left their house.

            "Hear me, muggles!" yelled Lucius. "If anyone is harboring a runaway band of witches and wizards in their house, report them immediately or you will all be killed!"

            Hermione turned and ran outside. She watched as a dirty group of kids emerged from the abandoned house across the way.

            "You evil bastards!" yelled a small, mousy-haired boy. It was the wrong thing to say.

            "INCINAGRA!" yelled Lucius.

            There was a flash of light and the abandoned house caught fire. Hermione dashed across the gravel clearing. Three ministry defense wizards shot stunners at Hermione's feet. She ran as quickly as possible, getting her wand out as she ran. The stunners hit the gravel, sending up showers of stones in the air. Hermione barely felt it as literally hundreds of stones ripped her shirt and tore deep cuts in her back, but she felt the blood washing down her spine, and new the pain was coming soon. She ducked and rolled across a nearby patch of grass, landing in a pack of six scruffy-looking kids who were repeatedly yelling "POREGO!" attempting to deflect the curses away from unlucky muggles.

            "Get inside!" yelled an older boy wearing a Slipknot shirt.

            "It's on fire!" Hermione yelled back as the other kids piled inside.

            "So they won't go in there!" he yelled, jumping a burning beam. Hermione looked back at the forty or so approaching ministry wizards and again at the burning house. Neither way looked good, but she didn't have time to think. She ran and ducked under the beam. She briefly glanced up. Above her, and falling quickly was a burning rafter. She stared at it for a second, trying to comprehend through the dizziness caused by inhaling the smoke. Then she felt someone tug her out from underneath just as the rafter hit the ground sending up a cloud of cinders.

            "Can you use that thing?" yelled a very small boy who looked somehow fierce, pointing at Hermione's wand.

            "Of course!"

            "Then do so! PORTEGO!"

            Hermione turned, and saw through the waving mirage of heat and smoke two wizards running directly for them.

            "IMPEDIMENTIA!" she yelled, that being the first spell that came to her mind. One stopped in his tracks, but the other continued on, smashing the beam aside. A tall girl with a ponytail plunged through a flaming doorway. Gritting her teeth, Hermione dived through after her, feeling the heat of the fire close by.

            "Stand back" yelled the girl. "DESTRUCTIFY!"

            She shot the spell to the burning rafters above. A cascade of embers fell on the ministry wizard.

            "You just killed someone!" yelled Hermione, shocked.

            "Yeah, I know," said the girl with a sarcastic smile. "That's sort of the point."

            Hermione was feeling drowsy from the smoke, but the others seemed to be fighting on. The two smaller boys had left the cabin and were shooting the gravel to batter ministry wizards, and another, smaller girl was yelling "EXPELLIMENTRUS!" repeatedly disarming the blue-robed defenders.

            Hermione looked around the room and found a burning log. Gripping it on the safe end she threw it like a spear at Malfoy. Malfoy's killing curse collided with it in midair and it exploded, sending fiery embers showering all over the battlefield.

            The town had become a bloodbath. Hermione hadn't seen so much death in her life. Praying for strength, she yelled "PORTEGO!" disrupting another of Malfoy's killing curses. It flew off and killed another ministry wizard. But it soon became obvious to Hermione that there was no chance of winning this battle. The ministry were already receiving reinforcements, Hermione could hear the cracks of them apperating.

            "We have to get out of here!" she yelled at the girl standing next to her.

            "Tell me about it," she said grimly, pointing up. The house was collapsing on them. "Follow me…we've been staying here for two days, we know the back entrance."

            The other five kids must have heard her because they, sending the last of their shield spells behind them, jumped through the ring of fire that the door had become and went with Hermione and the strange girl. As they ran, they began to feel the house shake beneath their feet. Hermione was hot, bleeding, and couldn't concentrate, she thought she would pass out from the smoke. They dived through another door into a kitchen. The entire room was on fire. Cooking oil and gas from the stove had spilled across the floor, and the roar of the blaze was deafening. They turned back.

            "We're not going out the front doory thingy, are we?" asked a small girl with dirty blonde hair.

            "No," yelled a third girl with long brown hair that was loose and, as Hermione noticed, was on fire.

            "Whoa!" said Harry. "Annette's hair was on fire? Did she cut it all off, is she bald now?"

            "You know these people?" asked Hermione.

            "Yeah, I…uh…met them a couple of weeks ago in Little Whinging."

            Ron looked up, too, with a slight grin on his face. "She's bald? Harry, if you date her, it'll be like dating E.T.!"

            Harry stared at Ron for a second. "Did you read the note?"

            "Well, you kind of left it hanging out of your pant's pocket…"

            "I'll deal with you later… let's let Hermione finish her story."

            They ran through the building, dodging falling pieces of wood, until they reached a wall. The ground was still shaking. Behind them, a roof caved in. Standing there, with a maniacal smile was Lucius Malfoy.

            "DESTRUCTIFY!" shouted both the pony-tailed girl and Lucius at once. The pony-tailed girl was pointing at the wall in front of them, and Lucius was pointing at the ceiling above them. The wall fell in and the ceiling collapsed.

            It fell in parts. First, tow rafters came crashing down, braking in two and sending sparks up in an almost festive manner. It was at this stage that they heard Lucius disparate. Then the walls started to cave in, board by burning board. Every board that fell spun wildly off into a different direction. Then the floor gave way to the basement nearly twenty feet below. They all grabbed onto the ledge, hanging. Using all their strength, the older kids, including Hermione, pulled themselves up and reached down to save the smaller children.

            Just as she was hauling up the small boy, a burning board flew at them from the right. "Watch out!" yelled the girl whose hair was on fire, but it was too late. It took them both in the chest, sending them flying out of the building and onto the grass beyond, to which the flames were rapidly spreading. They rolled out from under the board and watched as all three of the girls jumped out through a gap and rolled along the grass. Then a flaming log fell and the gap was gone.

            "KEVIN! ZACK!" yelled the fire-haired girl.

            And then, suddenly, the wall was blasted outwards toward the watchers. Hermione and the others threw themselves to the ground, watching as, like a grim phantom, Zack stumbled out of the burning house carrying the ratty boy with him. The fire-haired girl, who had finally managed to put out the fire using the tried-and-true method of stop, drop and roll ran over to the boys.

            "Kevin! Zack! Are you okay?"

            "Yeah, I'm fine," the older boy said. "But let's get Kevin out of here."

            "And let the villagers just die?" demanded Hermione.

            "No," said the pony-tailed girl. "I'll get them all to safety. I don't think any of them but Lucius would be crazy enough to use an unforgivable curse on muggles, and Lucius, I bet you anything, disparated out of here for good."

            Everyone seemed quite amenable to that. They ran down the hill and into the forest, stopping only when they reached a clearing.

            "Is he dead?" asked the small boy, poking at Kevin's body.

            "No," said the fire-haired girl, who was washing what she could out of her hair at a nearby brook, "but if you look at his charred skin, you can see he's suffered bad burns. Is he breathing?"

            "No," said Zack.

            "Damn it!" said the girl. Give him two breaths!"

            "Can't we send him to St. Mungo's?" asked Hermione.

            "Don't be so naive. Can't you see we're wanted criminals?"

            "You seem like good people…"

            "That has nothing to do with weather we're anted or not."

            "He's still not breathing," reported Zack.

            "Check for a pulse! This is so irritating; I might have to cut some of it off."

            "Why are you worrying about your hair at a time like this?" demanded Hermione.

            "Because it gives me something to do rather than to watch as Kevin dies."

            "No pulse. Should I start compressions?" asked Zack.

            "No… It's no use… let's dig a grave. Hey, girl, give me a hand here."

            "It's as simple as that?" asked Hermione, who was choking back her own tears. All of them looked sad, but it was almost a deadened sadness.

            "The Forgotten were, at first, fourteen. One escaped from our life. The rest… passed away. We can't let death worry us. We have to be strong, to keep going no matter what."

            Hermione sat down and stared and started to cry herself. The pony-tailed girl returned to say the only villagers that had died were the two that Lucius had killed at the beginning. Hiding her face, Hermione got up and jumped into the stream. She barely even knew these people, yet, somehow, she felt for them.

            They set up camp there on the clearing. That night, Hermione learned all their names and their story. As they fell asleep one by one, Hermione stayed awake watching the flickering flames die out on the hillside and on their campfire. She stood up, stretched, and, that night, left them, passing to look once more at Kevin's grave. Why was life so cruel? Why did it have to be this way?

            "And you just walked to Hogwarts?" demanded Ron.

            "Well, kind of…"

            They both stared at Hermione. While Hermione had been telling her story, the light outside had faded. It was already nearly 10:00 and the only homework they had today was from Snape. Sighing, they all went up to their dormitories and lay on the bed. Later on, Harry could hear Neville and Seamus come in, unaware of everything, change, and, laughing at some private joke, fall asleep loudly. Malfoy came in a few minutes later. Harry looked over at Ron, and knew he was awake.

            _Kevin sends his greetings_… They had written that in the latter that he had received that very morning. What had they meant by that? That letter had been written after Kevin had died. Harry looked up and silently cried. Turning to look at Ron and Malfoy, he realized he wasn't the only one.


	9. Chapter 9: Professor Artemis

**Chapter 9: Professor Artemis**

            Harry awoke the next morning feeling restless and lethargic. He threw on his robes and wandered downstairs to breakfast, rubbing his eyes. Looking around the hall, he saw an empty seat next to Amber but wandered around to sit with Ron and Hermione.

            "Harry, you look terrible!" said Hermione.

            "Yeah," added Ron, "you've got shopping bags under your eyes."

            Harry sat down silently. He wasn't just tired because he had had difficulty falling asleep. The real reason was that, once he did, he was in the desert again, walking towards the tomb, carrying the grandiose coffin. He remembered the previous year when he had repeatedly had dreams about the ministry of magic, as Voldemort had been putting them in there. Harry wondered if, now that Snape had calmed down about the incident the previous year, he should start asking Snape for lessons in Occulmency again, but for some reason he had a feeling that this wasn't the same type of dream. He remembered that he'd been having them off and on at the Burrow. Tracing it back, the first time he had had this kind of dream was when he had first taken the Drakhen from the box of his mom's old stuff.

            Sighing, Harry scooped some eggs onto his plate and turned to Hermione, who looked refreshed, but still had many scratches from her previous adventures.

            "Feeling better today?"

            "Much better, thank you. Professor McGonagall gave me my schedule. I'm continuing all my courses to NEWT level, because I'm not sure what I want to do yet? How about you guys?"

            "Well," Harry began, "I need NEWTs in Defense against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Charms and… Potions. Ugh, Snape gives me the creeps. He's worse than last year. And, I'm going on with Care of Magical Creatures as well as Herbology. At least I can dump Trelawney and Binns, though."

            "Yeah, but we also have Firenze this year," said Ron. "It was sort of weird last year, but kind of cool… I'm staying on with Divination."

            "But remember the OWL? They didn't want us to burn sage leaves, they had us staring into a crystal ball."

            "Do you think the NEWT will be the same?"

            "Yeah, probably."

            "Well, what did I miss yesterday?" asked Hermione in a lull in the conversation.

            "You've met your new roommates, right?" said Ron.

            "That Amber's a piece of work. I'm going to report her to Professor McGonagall first thing!"

            "Why, what did she do?" asked Harry around a mouthful of toast.

            "She and Umiko had a big fight. Apparently, Amber was using some of Umiko's stuff and called her a 'crazy Jap'. I tried to stop it, and Umiko just went kind of moody on me, but Amber flipped out and threw a book at me. And she kept talking about a kid named Devin and how he and his brother were the only nice people in the school. Do you know him?"

            "Yeah," said Harry grimly.

            "He's our new roommate," added Ron.

            "Who's his brother?"

            "Draco," said Ron and Harry together.

            "Not… Malfoy?"

            "Yeah, that's him."

            "How'd a Malfoy get in Gryffindor?"

            "He asked the sorting hat."

            "And you have to _live_ with him?"

            "Unfortunately."

            Harry looked down the table at Amber as she left the dining hall. She was holding something, but Harry couldn't see right. Then, to Harry's horror, he saw that she was holding Devin's hand. Harry's heart dropped.

            "I'm not hungry," he said moodily, getting up.

            "Why?"

            "Just am. See you in Herbology."

            Harry barely could see where he was going as he stumbled past paintings and statues who saluted him and kids wanting to know more about the end of the previous year. As soon as he got into the common room, he packed up his bags and walked over to the greenhouses. It had been so much easier with Cho, as she had lived in another house. He saw her only at mealtimes and the DA meetings. But Amber seemed to hate him already, and she was seemingly always there, in all his classes and wherever he went. He just felt worse and worse every time he thought about her. How perfect it could have been, if only he were different, he thought wistfully. I'm just a worthless little kid. Why can't I be rich like the Malfoys, why do I have to have this stupid scar on my head?

            Harry stepped carefully over the vegetable patch and into Greenhouse 5, where they were studying today. As Harry stepped in, he realized exactly why they kept this greenhouse until NEWT level. Looking through the mist, Harry saw plants he never thought existed. Two kinds of ivy (one with rather nasty-looking spines) were racing each other around the sides of the greenhouse, dodging explosive spores that were sent by a nearby thing that looked, to Harry, like a green cannon with leaves on the sides. Another plant was singing the newest hits by the Weird Sisters softly to itself. Each blade in a bed of grass was changing places with another in an extended game of Chinese Fire Drill and one plant was sucking in huge breaths of carbon dioxide and blowing smoke rings of oxygen in various shapes, impressing a nearby sapling that clapped its branches in appreciation.

            "Today," said Professor Sprout, striding into the room followed by a band of Hufflepuffs, "we will be studying flying lily pads, a topic that often comes up on the NEWT examination. Everybody get in pairs and go to you're a free lily pad."

            Everyone looked around to see exactly what she meant. There was no pond in sight, where were the lily pads? Only Hermione, and her partner Pravati Patil, knew where to go. She walked over to a large bowl-shaped plant that was filled with water. A small seed floated in the air by each bowl plant.

            "Now, who can tell me the how flying lily pads grow?"

            Hermione's hand shot up in the air.                                

            "Miss Granger?"

            "The flying lily-pad is the world's fastest growing plant. It needs only water to grow. It will expand into a small disc and send down a tendril below it, which will attach to the bottom of whatever container it is in, no matter how deep."

            "Very good, five points to Gryffindor. Now, everybody place their seeds in the water."

            Harry picked up his seed and hesitantly dropped it into the water in the bowl plant. Harry watched with amazement as the seed grew a long root that attached to the bottom of the bowl. Then the seed expanded to form a large dark-green disc spotted with yellow.

            "Now, one person from every pair be the spotter. Some people tend to be a little bit shocked their first time. The other person, stand on the lily pad.

            Harry looked doubtfully at the plant. It was paper-thin, Harry wondered how it would support the weight of a person, but Ron was already climbing onto it, so Harry assumed spotter position. It held perfectly still, despite the fact that it was floating on water. As soon as Ron was standing up on it, the root began to extend, pushing the lily pad up towards the greenhouse roof and stopped when Ron's head was just about to touch the glass. Leaning slightly in any direction, Ron was able to direct the lily pad around the room. Looking around, he saw many other students standing proudly as they swooped around the room on lily pads. Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbot had twined their roots together and made a small platform of two lily pads near the ceiling, and soon, others joined them to create what looked to be a flat-topped tree in the middle of the greenhouse.

            And then Harry heard someone shout. Looking up, Amber had pushed Neville off the platform with a smile on his face. Harry, his partner Seamus, and Professor Sprout all ran out to help him, but there was no time, he was about to land headfirst on the soil. But, just before he hit the ground, he stopped, floating. Devin Malfoy held his wand out. With a grimace, he turned Neville right side up and lowered him the last few inches to the ground.

            "You alright?" asked Professor Sprout nervously. "You had a nasty fall there."

            "Yeah," said Neville, pushing himself up from the ground. "Cool plants…"

            Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged looks. Harry then looked up at Amber, who had hidden her face. Was Harry the only one who had seen Amber push Neville, certainly no one else was looking up at her? Yes, Harry thought, I just imagined it. She looks so… sophisticated yet innocent, she wouldn't do that to someone, would she?

            After Herbology was Charms, where they were practicing direction spells, spells that helped you find your way if you were lost. Then there was lunch, where Harry kept looking over at the Slytherin table, where Amber and the Gryffindor Malfoy had chosen to sit with the Slytherin Malfoy and his friends. Watching them chatter and laugh together made Harry's insides squirm making it hard to eat anything. Following lunch, they had another class of Defense against the Dark Arts with Professor Artemis.

            When they walked in, Professor Artemis was already standing at his desk, his usual cowl hiding his face from view, the seats sloping up behind him like in a lecture hall. In front of his desk, however, was a new addition to the room, an ornate coffin standing on its end. Once everyone was in, he pointed his wand at the door and hissed, "COLLOPORTUS!" the door shut of its own accord and locked itself. He then waved his wand, and, soundlessly, the windows simply seemed to "turn off". There was no light at all coming through them, simply pure darkness. The only lights in the room were from the torches that covered the walls and the fiery pentagram behind Professor Artemis's desk, leaving it as dark as Snape's dungeon.

            "Inside this coffin," said professor Artemis, "is a real, live vampire."

            The class stared at him.

            "Now," he continued in a harsh whisper, "the book mentioned being frozen. Does anyone know exactly what that means?"

            Predictably, Hermione's hand shot up as well as, interestingly enough, Umiko's. Professor Artemis slowly raised his hand and pointed at Umiko.

            "You… can't move for a little bit… and afterward…" she shivered slightly, as if the memory of it was haunting her. "You're cold… so terribly cold…"

            Harry had felt a bone-chilling cold before, whenever he saw a dementor, one of the terrible guards of Azkaban, many of whom had revolted against ministry control.

            "Like a dementor?" asked Professor Artemis, as if he had read Harry's mind.

            "No, different… the magic in you is frozen."

            "Well, let's see how you do with him."

            In a matter of seconds, all the torches went out, the pentagram followed suit so they were in total darkness, and there was a creak as if the coffin was opening and then a crack as if Professor Artemis had apperated.

            "LUMOS!" said Lavender immediately in a hushed voice (the capitals are to denote she's casting a spell).

            Her wand flooded the room like light, revealing the face of the vampire. The face was very white, as if the vampire hadn't seen the sun in years, and he was wearing a red robe. His hair was straggly and long, and two fangs protruded out of the sides of his mouth that was caked with dried blood. Pravati screamed, but Lavender put a hand on her to calm her down.

            The vampire stood for a second in the coffin and nobody in the classroom moved. Then it jumped and floated very quickly up the steps in the center, over some chairs, and landed neatly by Lavender. It had not arced over anything; it was more of an elongated jump. It reached for Lavender, who was now the one screaming. As soon as it touched her, her light went out.

            "LUMOS!" said Seamus, illuminating the gruesome scene.

            The vampire had opened its mouth and was going for lavender. However, seeing the new light, it did the same floating jump to Seamus, and his wand went out.

            "He goes after light!" yelled Umiko. "Nobody use that spell!"

            "So how will we know where he's going? He moves so silently!"

            "Somebody help, I feel him!" yelled Seamus.

            "LUMOS!" said Amber.

            The vampire turned away from Seamus, whose face was so white that it looked like he'd already lost some blood and went for Amber.

            "Turn it off!" hissed Umiko.

            "You turn it off," spat Amber, tossing the wand over in the general direction of Umiko. It highlighted Umiko and Hermione's faces.

            Harry could not believe his eyes. The delicate, perfect Amber, who had been everything Harry had wanted, had just put the lives of two other students in danger. It must have been the pressure – everyone was scared here, so scared that no one had moved. It was all Professor Artemis's fault. Yes, that was it; Amber had been driven mad by fear.

            Umiko grabbed the wand, and pointed it at the cabinets next to Professor Artemis's desk where the stakes were kept and jumped across her desk. Harry, from what he could feel three rows below, felt a whoosh of air near where Umiko had been before, and realized the vampire had probably transformed. Harry saw Umiko over a seat – she hadn't been looking down with the beam of light, and fall to the floor. Amber's wand bounced between empty seats and fell to rest at the base of the teacher's desk.

            Harry was galvanized into action. He ran out to the steps in the center and straight foreword towards the light. Just as he picked it up, he heard the flap of leathery wings and felt claws on his neck. Harry felt a gale rise up and die behind him, and suddenly felt the cold touch of the vampire. Umiko had been right, it was different from the painful, eerie cold of the dementor; it was a freezing cold that pierced Harry straight to his heart. He felt the magic freeze painfully inside of him. Amber's wand turned off.

            "Somebody, help me!" yelled Harry.

            "LUMOS!" cried Pravati from the back, practically in hysterics. Harry felt the Vampire's hands recede from him, but he was still unable to move.

            "Pravati, run to the front! Get a wooden stake!" yelled Umiko, getting to her feet.

            The light wavered on a face driven purely by fear, and then Pravati made a run for it, crashing through desks and flying towards the front of the room. About halfway down, the vampire embraced her in a killing hug and the light went out. The room was black once more. Harry, Lavender and Pravati and Seamus were all out and Amber didn't have a wand, which left the injured Umiko, Hermione, Ron, Neville and Malfoy still in the running. They needed three people to cast the spell and banish the vampire for good, which meant only two more could fall.

            "LUMOS!" cried Ron.

            Ron was in the front row, and when his light went on, he clambered over his desk and ripped open the cabinet. Sure enough, inside was a single one of the wood stakes that they had used to practice on the dummies the previous day. Ron grabbed one, turned around and… dropped it. It clattered to the floor as the vampire grabbed him from behind. Seconds later, his light went out.

            "LUMOS!" yelled Umiko, taking up the challenge.

            Umiko stood up and jumped into the stairs that she rolled down. It looked painful, but she seemed alright as she rolled directly under the spread lags of the vampire (she was quite small) and grabbed the stake. She and the vampire were facing each other. The vampire extended hi hands and Umiko drew back her stake. And stopped. The vampire had gotten to her first. Her light went suddenly out.

            "LUMOS!" said Hermione shakily. Harry was surprised that Hermione hadn't gone earlier, but now Harry could she why: she was shaking from head to toe with fear and she was their last hope of defeating the mad creature that Professor Artemis had set on the class.

            Hermione jumped foreword to grab the stake from Ron's hand. She climbed over desks and made a great leap towards the unmoving figure of Ron, tugging out the stake as she flew past. The vampire jumped at her. She dodged, falling to the floor. The vampire raised his foot. Hermione rolled out from under it. There was then a rush of air. The vampire was again a bat. Hermione got up, holding her glowing wand in one hand and the wooden stake in the other. She directed the beam of the wand around the room, but could see no bat. Then she screamed. Vampiric hands had her in a terrible hug, and the creature was sinking his teeth in…

            In a flash, the vampire was gone, the coffin shut tight, the windows once again letting in brilliant daylight and the torches and pentagram burning fluidly. Professor Artemis was standing once more behind his desk. Harry realized, simultaneously with the others that he could move again. He reached down and picked up Amber's wand, throwing it to her and returned to his seat, the adrenaline still pumping through his system.

            "My, my… ten people and you were still unable to defeat my vampire. Of course… we had two cowards," he inclined his head towards Malfoy and Neville, the former who stared resolutely back and the latter who hung his head in shame, "and a traitor," he nodded to Amber, who opened her mouth to show a brilliantly white smile – something that didn't usually exist in Britain. "And, of course, only one person who was knowledgeable about vampires. We will continue this exercise daily, slowly reducing the number of, and switching around, the participants. In the NEWT examination, there will be only teams of four."

            Everyone resumed their seats, and then there was silence. Finally, Harry raised his hand.

            "Sir, that thing could've killed us."

            "Actually, those fangs are fakes. The testing board leant it to me. It was captured about three hundred years ago and used in the examination repeatedly. Whenever it's killed, they just reanimate it."

            The silence continued. Everyone's heart was still beating quickly from the experience with the vampire.

            "Well, if there are no more questions," croaked Professor Artemis, "then you may go."

            They were all more than happy to leave, and, their classes over for the day, return to their dormitories. The only talk around the school was about the vampires – apparently both sixth and seventh years had faced it. Only one group of Ravenclaw seventh years had successfully defeated the vampire, and even they, a class of twelve, had only three left at the end. Students in lower grades were constantly pressing Harry about the details of the battle and what they would be facing when they had Professor Artemis.

            Dinner that night was a loud affair. Between the lily pads and the vampire, the eight sixth years who sat at Gryffindor had more than enough to talk about.

            "How'd you know all that about the vampire?" Ron asked Umiko.

            "I…well, after my mom died, my father, my brother and I went trekking through the Alps in Europe. When we were up there with some tribesmen, we were attacked by one. All three of us were frozen. If it wasn't for the tribesmen, we'd probably be dead now."

            "Wow," said Seamus around a humongous bite of Shepard's Pie.

            "I didn't think it was all that impressive," said Hermione, scowling.

            "That's just because you failed something in school for the first time ever," said Lavender.

            "That's not true! He didn't tell us it wasn't real, it could have hurt somebody!"

            Harry zoned out, watching Amber and the Malfoy twins talk with their heads close together. They were definitely planning something.

            "I'm going," said Harry. "See you guys upstairs.

            "Wait for me!" said Neville taking a swig of pumpkin juice and following Harry away.

            They returned to the common room, where they played some chess until the others arrived. When everyone was there, they started working on Snape's potions essay that was due the next day. Well, Hermione did most of the work. Once they finished, Harry plodded up the steps and sank into bed, thankful for the respite from the long day. He fell asleep, and once again he was walking through the desert to the tomb, carrying the heavy coffin. Just as he was about to enter the tomb, he woke up to some whispering.

            Harry pretended to continue sleeping, but rolled over to see who it was. Amber was in there, talking to Malfoy.

            "Ready?" asked Amber

            "Yeah, let me just get my wand…"

            "Hurry up, Draco's waiting!"

            Malfoy got out of bed, and they left together. What were they doing? After a short time, Harry had made up his mind: he was going to follow them. He rolled out of bed, threw on some socks, grabbed his invisibility cloak and the marauder's map (just in case) and followed them out.


	10. Chapter 10: Drakeweed

**Chapter 10: Drakeweed**

Harry followed them softly through the Hogwarts corridors, tiptoeing past Mr. Norris, the caretaker's cat. Amber and Devin met up with Draco outside the Slytherin dungeons and continued downwards. They walked down innumerable staircases, deeper and deeper into the earth. Harry noticed it growing progressively warmer. There were sounds coming from down here Harry had never heard before. Whispered conversations in thousands of languages came from the wall. As they continued down, the corridors became mazelike, but the Malfoys had a map. They went deeper and deeper, always down. Harry's legs were getting tired, but the Malfoys and Amber, though not talking, walked on.

At one point the stone of the tiles gave way to dirt and rock, a secret cave miles underground. The heat was nearly unbearable now. They passed over a bridge where the apparent source of the heat – molten lava – rushed by like water below, bubbling and spitting. A lava drake swam by, dipping under and rising above the waves. They went still deeper. Amber began to lag behind, but Draco seemed ready for such an incidence. He gave her a little invigoration potion, and both Malfoys had a gulp as well. Harry wished dearly that he could have some. They continued down. Soon, Harry began to notice things. Arcane, obviously magical symbols had been traced on the walls, and skulls hung eerily on the ceiling. Harry was nearly too tired to care. The sweat was making the invisibility cloak stick to him and he nearly tripped over it.

And then they came to a wood door.

"This is it, then?" asked Amber.

"Father reckons so," said Draco.

"Do we dare go in?"

"Yeah, there's nothing scarier in there than we've already seen," said Devin.

"Like you've been in here before."

"Shut up. Let's just go."

Devin pushed open the door. The room within was pitch-black, lit only by the flicker of torches in the hallway. Harry could see nothing within.

"LUMOS!" said Devin.

The room was obviously a crypt. Coffins stacked on shelves went out as far as the eye could see in all directions. Amber and the Malfoys walked in, brushing away an errant cobweb.

"This is really creeping me out," said Amber.

"Yeah, it'll only be a second. Just stick with us and you'll be fine"

They proceeded into the crypt, walking between rows and rows of unmarked coffins. Harry wondered who was buried here, and then wondered if he wanted to know.

"It's fourteen down, eighteen to the left?" asked Draco.

"I think that's what father said. Ah, here it is. Middle one."

Harry watched as the three of them brought down one of the blank coffins and drew back from it. None of them seemed to want to open it. Finally, Draco stepped up to it. Putting his hands firmly on the side of the coffin he lifted it up. Devin aimed the beam from his wand towards the coffin. There was a skeleton, long dead in there, with tatters of clothes hanging loosely off him. His hands were held in a position as if he had been holding something when he died.

"It's gone," said Amber flatly.

Devin threw the beam of his wand light all over the coffin, but there was nothing but the body.

"Are you sure we got the right one?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm sure. Look, he's got his hands out, where he was holding it," snapped Draco.

"But, no one's been down here for years! No one could have taken it!"

"Centuries, more like. Millennia, maybe."

"They say it finds its way to whoever's destined for it…" said Amber weakly.

"Whatever," replied Devin.

Angrily, Draco snapped the coffin shut.

"Do you reckon we should put it back?" asked Amber. "You know, don't disturb the dead?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

They all grabbed it and put it back in its spot, dust stirring as they left. Harry followed them back out, wondering exactly what they had been trying to get. The hands certainly were carrying something, but, racking his brains, Harry could think of nothing that it could have been. Hmm… Lucius had told them of this place. Was it something Lucius wanted? He sure had been acting strangely lately, something was wrong.

Harry got back to his bed at nearly one in the morning and, throwing off the cloak, fell promptly to sleep.

Wednesday was dreary and cold and nobody wanted to be outside. Breakfast was subdued, as they ate in silence until the mail arrived. When it did, Harry eagerly ripped open a letter from the Forgotten.

Hey Harry, how are you?

I can't tell you where we are, in case this letter is intercepted, but I can tell you that the ministry is on a rampage. Annette gets really red in the face whenever she tries to write to you, I think she likes you or something. As I said before, she wants to meet you, and the rest of us have something we really need to talk to you about. We'll see you; don't worry about going anywhere special – we have ways of getting into Hogwarts. If you know a girl named Hermione say hi for us, will you, I think she said she goes there.

Take care and we're really missing you,

Amy and the Forgotten

There was still no mention of Kevin's death. Harry wondered why they were refusing to talk about it. Maybe they weren't as hardened to death as they had told Hermione, maybe they simply bottled up all their sadness and anger inside themselves until they blew, hating everything in the world. Harry thought of them and wondered what a hard life it might have been for them; they seemed only bitter and resentful, though.

Harry also thought about Annette. Harry had seen he dirty and disheveled. He remembered how, seeing her at the Burrow that day had made him feel – it was something different, something bigger than what he felt for Amber, yet Amber was right there, two tables away sitting with her friends from Slytherin, smiling away at her friends. Girls made life just too complicated, thought Harry.

Care of Magical Creatures that day was lots of fun, as they were studying zephyrs, creatures made of congealed air. Hagrid promised that if the weather cleared up, they would go for a ride on the giant squid. Harry wondered about what Luna had been saying the other day, though about an interesting class. Snape had assigned them a big chunk of homework, so, after classes Harry, Neville and Hermione sat around trying to puzzle out answers to increasingly difficult essay problems in the Gryffindor common room.

"What do you need to make the weight loss potion boil?" asked Neville. Harry wondered why Neville had chosen to continue potions at all.

"Just burn incense of mermaid's whisker in the air," said Hermione knowledgeably.

"Hey," said Seamus and Ron, walking over. "What's up with you guys?"

"Oh, just doing some Potions. I wish I had dropped Snape," said Harry, scribbling down an answer.

"Okay, cool," said Ron, walking away.

"Wait, I'm all done," Harry lied, throwing his paper in his bag and running to catch up with them.

"Oh, cool. Hey, Harry, can you play anything?" asked Seamus.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we thought since I can play guitar and Ron can play drums that we'd start a band, but we need someone to play base."

"Well, Dudley used to have a guitar which he never used. I tried to learn a couple of times, but my aunt and uncle kept getting mat at me."

"I can show you how to play," offered Ron.

"So, you're in?" asked Seamus.

"Yeah!"

"Cool."

"But we need a name for ourselves," said Ron.

They thought for a moment.

"How about Zephyr Blast?" asked Ron, thinking of Hagrid's lesson today.

"Man, you really need to get a life! That's the worst idea I've heard from you!"

"Avada Kedavra 99?" suggested Harry.

"That's kind of cool… I don't know… It's like Death…"

"How about Dragon Smokers?" Ron attempted again.

"I like that… except make it Drake Smokers."

"How about Drakeweed?" asked Harry.

"Yeah, that's cool. Then it's settled," said Seamus. "Drakeweed."

"We have to make up some songs, though!" Ron said.

"One step at a time. You have to give Harry a few guitar lessons and then we'll see…Let's set some concert dates."

"What about that one step at a time thing?" asked Harry, smiling.

For the next two days, Harry prepared for the Quidditch tryouts with Ron, tried his best to learn guitar and struggled with all his homework. He was taking less courses this year, and Hagrid and Artemis had yet to assign homework, but Professors Snape and McGonagall were more than happy to make up for that. They continued fighting the vampire on Friday, where they actually got the stake through the heart of the creature before it froze the last contender.

On Friday afternoon, Gryffindor hopefuls piled out onto the Quidditch pitch. Ginny, who had played seeker for a short time last year, was almost a shoe-in for the place of chaser, but there were numerous positions still up for grabs. Among those trying out were Devin, Amber and Seamus.

Ron and Harry defended the goal as the intended players threw in the quaffles. Devin was up first. He got onto his broomstick and launched off into the air, dodging past two bludgers sent by Andrew Kirke and Jack Sloper, the beaters that had replaced the brilliant Fred and George Weasley on the team last year. He flew straight up, way beyond playing distance and up towards the clouds. When he was barely a speck in the sky, she shot straight downwards at the center goal and did a midair barrel-roll to avoid a spinning bludger, knocking it with the end of his broomstick. It spun for a second, hovering then flew towards the center goal. Mistaking it for the quaffle, Harry and Ron both went for it, and smashed into one another. Devin soared past over them, aimed and scored.

Amber was quite good at flying but, used to playing American Quidditch, she had horrible aim. She shot into the sky and flipped upside down on her broom, holding on tightly with her legs as her body hung down from it. Harry wondered how she was able to maneuver the broom from such a position, but somehow she was able to. Her movement was erratic and unpredictable as she swayed in all directions, gripping the broom. Harry and Ron went from left to right trying to stop her from throwing the quaffle, but to no avail. Just when both of them were on the far left, she flipped upright on her broom and tossed the quaffle underhanded to the right hoop… and missed. Cursing in her fury, she landed and angrily stormed away, tears running from her eyes. Harry watched her go and wished desperately that he could fallow her, comfort her…

Seamus had definite room for improvement in both areas, but he was a great well-rounded player, and showed potential. The second he touched off the ground, he threw the ball through the hoop Harry was defending. Ron said they didn't really see him play, so he tried again. He didn't feint, but tossed it at Ron. Ron reached out, grabbed it, blocking the throw and… it bounced off his hand. Seamus made a swooping dive and caught it inches from the ground, throwing it backwards from underneath the hoop. Once again, Harry and Ron said it didn't count, because it went through the wrong way. He tried again, and this time Ron successfully caught the quaffle, but only at the last second.

Harry and Ron touched the ground and went into conference. The four of them were certainly better than any of the others who tried out. Ginny, because she played on the team last year, became an almost automatic choice, leaving two spots open.

"Seamus looked promising," said Ron.

"Yeah, but he didn't do as good as either Malfoy or Amber. Most of his moves were just tricks."

"Amber sucked. She _missed _when she had a clean shot! At least Seamus showed some ingenuity."

"But she could have flown straight through the hoop she flew so well. And on a Comet Three Twenty-Five, no less."

"Harry, the newest Comet is better than a Firebolt in acceleration and grip, and it has only a slightly lower max speed. Plus, it has built-in heavy wind steering and all-bristle drive."

"Yeah, but it has terrible control and mediocre turning… and she used that to her advantage, to throw us off."

"She wouldn't be able to do that sort of stuff in a real match. She has no peripheral vision down there, and if a bludger hit her she'd be dead meat. Plus, the way she moves makes it harder for other players to cover her. Let's take Ginny, Malfoy and Seamus."

Harry sighed. They were the obvious choices, but seeing Amber cry like that had made him feel terrible.

"But Malfoy might work against us in the matches against Slytherin…"

"So might Amber," said Ron, grinning.

"Okay, fine you win. Those three it is."

The weather didn't clear up over the weekend, but it continued to rain. Harry and Ron spent every free moment practicing guitar. Harry had learned most of the chords by Sunday night, when they grudgingly began an essay on the principles of summoning a mothball covered in sand. After they finished, Harry began to tell them about the adventure he had had on Tuesday night as well as everything about the Drakhen and the summer.

"That was really dangerous," said Hermione before the last words escaped Harry's mouth. "Not only could you have been caught by a teacher, imagine if one of the Malfoys or Amber had heard you!"

"Listen," said Harry, "it was one of those gut instinct thingies. And I didn't even know that there _was_ anything down there!"

"Who do you think was buried there?" asked Ron.

"See, that's what I don't know. One of the Malfoys said they were thousands of years old… they probably were there before Hogwarts was even built."

"I think they mentioned something about this in Hogwarts: A History. They said it was built on a large network of tunnels, but the tunnels must have been made by giant worms because they didn't lead anywhere."

"Hermione, have you memorized the whole book?"

"More or less."

"Well, I kind of felt that this crypt was one of those places that doesn't exist unless you're looking for it."

"Well, I certainly think you should put it out of your mind," advised Hermione, "if they didn't find anything down there, then there's probably no reason to go back."

"Yeah," sighed Harry. "But I have a feeling that whatever they were looking for was something important."

"If it's out then there's millions of places it could be. Don't let it worry you."

"I guess so. Well, I'm off to bed."

"Me too," said Ron, yawning. "We have Transfiguration first thing tomorrow."

Harry climbed up the stairs and into bed. What if whatever that skeleton had been holding was the Silver Drakhen? Professor McGonagall had said that it finds its way to whoever it's destined for… had it found its way to Harry? Had his mother used it? Had Aunt Petunia? And what building was inside it? Could it be that building in the desert? Could the tomb have been sucked into the Drakhen or would the building have to be made from scratch as a Drakhen? And, Hermione had said that the tunnels were there long before Hogwarts was built… Damascus Slytherin, being the son of Salazar Slytherin, would have made it after the school was built.

Harry rolled over under his blanket. Nothing seemed to be making sense in his life since his godfather had died. There was Annette, a beautiful, perfect ray of light, who was gone just hours after they had met, and Amber, who looked at him with nothing but contempt. There was also the prophecy concerning Voldemort that Dumbledore had told Harry at the end of the previous year. Harry still hadn't told Ron or Hermione about this. Harry felt as if every feeling in the world had been put in a blender, mixed up, and dumped into his brain as a breakfast shake. He almost wished life was simple again, when he was back at Privet Drive, living alone under the stairs, not knowing that the magical world existed at all.

I'm worthless, Harry thought. That's why Amber doesn't like me. I can't play guitar, Ron will never be able to teach me, who am I kidding? Everyone's counting on me to follow through on this stupid prophecy… but what if I can't? They don't understand how I feel, who I am! I'm not like them; they think I'm some kind of tool to fight Voldemort. I'm a person, a human being, and have feelings just like the rest of them. Yet, do I deserve for them to even care about me? I'm not cool, I can't do things other people can't; I'm just here in this world trying to get by…

Harry's thoughts drifted away as he fell asleep. Once again, he was under a dark, heavy robe. Above his head he carried the ornate, silver coffin above his head with the others, marching to the beat of drummers riding on elephants behind them. They once again reached the tomb, and Harry looked up. Two statues of chimeras had been cut out of the door, four terrible heads, those of a snake, a lion, an eagle and a badger emerged from a dragon's body. The statues were almost lifelike, and Harry knew, somehow, that a real chimera would be used to guard the tomb from thieves. Harry stepped inside, following the leader through a twisted maze of passageways, the light from the entrance slowly ebbing away replaced by torches that burned green fire… and then Harry awoke, sweating. Angrily, he rolled over and fell promptly back into a deep sleep. The next morning, he remembered nothing about the dream.

"Did you sleep alright?" asked Hermione as they went downstairs to breakfast.

"Yeah, you?"

"Well, to tell you the truth, no. Amber was really angry and started calling Umiko names. Umiko started crying. Lavender told them both to shut up. You know how it is."

"Did she say what she was angry about? Was she mad that she didn't make the Quidditch team?"

"I don't know. She was pretty mad, though."

"Yeah, it sounds like it."

They sat down and Harry took some pancakes covering them with a liberal amount of maple syrup.

"Did your parents write back?"

"Yeah, they sounded alright, but shocked. I guess Robbie was injured in the fire, and he's in the hospital right now, but they say it'll clear up in a few days. But, the _Daily Prophet _sure had a field day with the attack. They said Malfoy's status as head of the defense squad is pending."

"How'd he get out of going to Azkaban after the incident last year?"

"Claimed he was under the Imperius Curse. All of the ones who weren't in Azkaban before got off on that excuse."

"Is Azkaban still secure?"

"Well, some of the dementors are still loyal to the ministry, so they were all relocated there. Plus, they added in some additional security measures that no one really knows much about. When Dumbledore was still strong, he conjured up some stuff that they reckon even the Dark Lord couldn't have gotten past."

"So, it's even more difficult to break out of than before?"

"Definitely. If a Death Eater gets in, they won't be coming out."

Just then, the mail arrived and Harry and Hermione had to break off their conversation. Harry was surprised to see that he'd gotten yet another message so soon in the year. He gave Hedwig some of his bacon and opened the letter. It was from Lupin.

Harry,

Be careful this year. Don't try anything. With Dumbledore sick, even Hogwarts is now in danger. And the order is getting the feeling that You-Know-Who is up to something, and plotting with Lucius Malfoy. As a related note, be very careful about what you say around Lucius Malfoy's sons or their American friend.

I hope all is going good,

Lupin

Another warning. Hadn't Harry proved that he could take care of himself? It was exactly like last year, no one wanted to tell him anything. Was it because he was so unable to do anything? Was he that much of a loser?

Depressed and angry, Harry polished off the last of his breakfast, and stormed off to Transfiguration lesson. However, as he passed a nearby corridor, something struck him. There were people in that corridor. Harry had been down it once in his first year, it didn't lead anywhere. A bit unnerved, Harry doubled back. Sure enough, there was Amber, her shining hair soaring down her back like a dolphin. There was someone else, too, behind Amber. Who was it? She had her hands around whoever it was. And then Harry's eyes unfocused. Nothing seemed to matter anymore, he just wanted away from Amber, away from everyone, away from this world. Harry started running, but he didn't know where, nor did he care. Amber had been kissing Draco Malfoy.


	11. Chapter 11: The Mentor's Key

I just had a relapse of panic attacks last night… This isn't over yet!!!

**Chapter 11: The ****Mentor****'s Key**

            Harry ran until he reached his dormitory where he collapsed on his bed, panting. Everything had gone wrong. If only he could be like the Malfoy twins, thought Harry wistfully. Rich, good-looking, with a powerful father… why hadn't I taken the suggestion of the sorting hat so many years ago and joined Slytherin? He felt betrayed and worthless, hating everything. But it's not just me, is it? He thought. I did nothing wrong! It's their fault! It's the Malfoys and Amber and my stupid parents and stupid Voldemort and stupid Sirrus and this stupid, stupid cursed body that I was put into! It's all their fault! It's them, them, them!

            Harry felt lethargic. He knew he should be in class, conjuring up mothballs, but he had no energy. Even if he had tried, he thought his muscles simply wouldn't have reacted. He lay on his bed, staring up moodily. His thoughts, before a concentrated stream of hate had ran out into the sea of oblivion, and Harry simply lay there for what seemed like an eternity. He was neither sleeping nor awake, simply a body floating upon the hell that was this world. After a long time, he heard tentative footsteps into the dormitory. Who cares?, he thought. It didn't matter.

            "Harry?"

            Harry remained silent.

            "Harry, are you okay?"

            NO!, Harry wanted to shout.  No, I'm not okay, and you're not okay and nothing is okay. Why do you even ask such a stupid question?

            "Harry, look at me. I know you're awake."

            Why should I? It would be so much work for nothing. He felt a hand shake him gently. Let them do what they want to me. They can kill me if they want to.

            "Harry, are you sick? Do you want to go to Madam Pomphrey?"

            Why would anyone care about someone like Harry? Weakly, he turned his head over. It was Ron.

            "Harry, you don't look too good. You should go to Madam Pomphrey right away."

            "You sound like Hermione," Harry said weakly. Talking was helping him, he was already feeling better.

            "I guess so. So tell me what happened. Were you jinxed by Devin?"

            "No, I'm perfectly fine."

            "You miss class to lie on your bed and can barely even talk and you say you're fine?"

            "Yeah," said Harry, making a valiant attempt at a grin. He had gotten over the initial shock of seeing Malfoy and Amber together.

            "Well then, do you want to go down to lunch?"

            "Nah, I'm not very hungry."

            "This is about Amber, isn't it?"

            Harry remained silent.

            "Look, how about Annette? I saw you when you stayed at my house, both of you were into each other."

            "Annette's gone. I don't know if I'll ever see her again. And if I did, she might be bald…"

            "Listen, you've got to cheer up. You don't want the type of girl who would go out with a Malfoy, anyway."

            It was the wrong thing to say. Harry remained silent.

            "Hey, maybe she's under the Imperius curse!"

            "Why? So Draco could feel good about having a girlfriend that weighed less than Pansy Parkinson?"

            "I don't know. The sorting hat put her in Gryffindor…"

            "The sorting hat also put Devin in Gryffindor. That hat has made some strange decisions this year."

            "Listen, Harry, I know how you feel right now-"

            "No you don't! You've never loved somebody the way I loved Amber!"

            "Yes, I have. I still do."

            "Who?"

            Ron paused for a second, and then said "Forget it. Let's just go have lunch."

            "Alright," said Harry moodily. "It's just… well, I liked her."

            "Well, she's hot, I won't deny that. But you didn't love her, Harry. You never got to know her."

            "I guess so. It just sort of shocked me."

            Harry got up and followed Ron to lunch.

            For the next month, Harry eagerly anticipated word from The Forgotten, but he received no message. They continued to fight the vampire. They now fought in groups of five while Professor Artemis and the other group watched. In Quidditch, Harry and Ron were not too good about scheduling regular practice sessions, but they played whenever they could fit them in. Ron and Ginny had been working on new moves over the summer and Malfoy brought moves from his old school. The team was nearly as strong as it was last year (when Harry and the Weasley twins were allowed to play). Harry was getting better at guitar, and, on the first Hogsmeade weekend, Harry picked up his very own base guitar. Seamus, Harry and Ron played until the early hours of every morning until Neville or Devin told them to shut up. Overall, Harry's life was improving, and he was forcing himself to get over Amber.

            They hadn't seen Dumbledore since the start-of-term feast, and the staff table looked oddly empty without him. Lupin was right, with Dumbledore out of action, Voldemort and his Death Eaters could stride right into Hogwarts and there would be little the students and faculty could do against them. Professor McGonagall had unofficially taken over all of Dumbledore's duties.

            One day, after completing a particularly difficult essay for Snape on the properties and indications of the confusion concoction, Harry crashed sleepily into bed. He felt something strange underneath him. He rolled on his side and found a small piece of paper. The writing on it was scribbled and difficult to read, but Harry could just barely make out some words.

be in vegetable patch 11:30 tomorrow night

            "What's that?' asked Ron, putting on his pajamas.

            "Here, take a look."

            Ron put it under the light and read it to himself.

            "Do you think I should go?" asked Harry.

            "I…I don't know. Maybe someone's trying to lure you out there… But… Maybe you should ask Hermione, she can deal with these things better."

            Harry opened the door to the dormitories and looked down at the common room where Hermione had been when Harry went up to his room. Hermione was down there, wand out, looking daggers at Amber, who was across the room from her, equally prepared for battle. Both were quivering as they circled each other slowly. Many Gryffindors had gathered around to watch and were cheering on their favorite contestant (most were cheering Hermione; Amber had made herself quite unpopular).

            "Neville…Ron…C'mon, let's go watch."

            "What's happening?" asked Neville.

            "I think Hermione and Amber are about to fight."

            They ran down the stairs just in time to see the first spell.

            "IMPEDIMENTIA!" yelled Hermione.

            Amber grabbed Colin Creevy, who was standing behind her, his mouth open in awe, and threw him in front of her. Colin took the full blast of Hermione's spell, falling soundlessly to the floor. The onlookers backed away from Amber.

            "ANASCARA!" said Amber quietly.

            Beams of multicolored light shot out from both sides of her wand, streaming towards Hermione chillingly.

            "PORTEGO!" said Hermione, tying to block the curse.

            Hermione's shield spell hit one of the beams causing an explosion of color in midair. The rest of the beams struck Hermione, all directly at the center of her chest. She gasped painfully and fell to the floor.

            "STUPEFY!" she screamed, holding her wand up towards Amber.

            Amber jumped straight up and caught a chandelier hanging from the common room ceiling by a long chain. She flipped upwards, so she was standing perilously atop the swinging chandelier above Hermione, surrounded by candles.

            "So, you want to do this for real?" asked Amber, reaching under her robe.

            Hermione remained still, awaiting Amber's next move. Amber pulled out a small vial of a purple potion that was about halfway used and placed a single drop on her tongue before corking it back up. In seconds, her whole body seemed to change. Her lean physique became muscular, her fingers lengthened and her eyes seemed to glow purple. Her ender body began to shake, the chandelier rattling worryingly.

            "Tonight, I will deal with this problem," she said, a hard edge to her voice.

            And then Hermione made her move.

            "REDUCTO!"

            The curse hit the chain holding the chandelier. The chain broke and Amber and the chandelier crashed to the ground with a clatter. Amber jumped, and when she did she flew higher than Harry had ever seen anyone do. From eight feet in the air, she reached under the other side of her robe; she removed a different vial of potion, this time a bubbling orange-red brew that was entirely full. She threw the potion down to the floor. Lavender pulled Hermione out of the way just in time. There was a deafening explosion, sending small shards of flak in all directions. As the dust settled, Amber landed deftly on the other side on one foot, her wand pointed threateningly at Lavender and Hermione.

            "You have help, I see. No matter, I can deal with you both. EXPELLIMENTRUS!"

            Hermione's wand flew over the debris of some chairs, and both Lavender and Hermione were sent hurtling back into the crowd who caught them and pushed them back to the fight. Lavender threw her wand to Hermione and dashed back into the crowd.

            "SYNERAVA!" yelled Amber, planting her other foot on the ground.

            Her own wand and Hermione's quivered for a second and then with a yellow glow became a single wand. Amber laughed and pointed her new wand straight at Hermione.

            "STUPEFY!" Amber yelled.

            "PORTEGO!" countered Hermione.

            The stunner seemed to plow right through Hermione's shield spell, sending a shower of sparks all over the room and hit Hermione straight in the chest. Gasping, Hermione shot backwards once again into the crowd.

            "TETHRIASC!" yelled Hermione.

            A beam of concentrated white light crossed the room and hit Amber. Amber stumbled for a second and then (to the applause of many watching boys) all her clothes fell off. Amber gave Hermione a look of pure hatred.

            "I didn't want to have to do this but… CRUCIO!"

            Strangled gasps and screams emerged from the crowd. Amber had just used an unforgivable curse, a crime that could land her a lifetime sentence in Azkaban. The curse flew across the room and hit Hermione directly. Hermione let out a scream, and then a whimper. She had curled up into a ball and was rocking back and forth letting out strangled cries of pain.

            Just then, Professor McGonagall appeared through the portrait hole and surveyed the wreckage of the room. The whole of Gryffindor was standing behind Hermione watching. Hermione was whimpering in pain. Between them, fires were breaking out from the spilled candles and there was fluff from the wreckage of the chairs and chips of wood from tables. Further along, Amber, completely naked was holding a yellow-glowing wand pointing straight at Hermione standing in a ripped pile of her clothes and Colin Creevy lay rigid at her feet.

            "Stop," said McGonagall in a deathly voice. Amber lowered her wand and Hermione collapsed to the ground crying.

            "Put some clothes on," she instructed Amber. "We're going to see Dumbledore."

            "I saw him yesterday in my seeing pool," Amber said with a cruel smile. "He can't even walk."

            "No… but I can. GO!"

            Amber looked daggers at Hermione and then turned without a word and walked upstairs, followed by the eyes of most of the older boys.

            "Somebody explain what happened," said McGonagall. Nobody seemed to want to answer.

            "They had a fight," said Ron lamely.

            There was silence for a moment. Then, as an afterthought, Professor McGonagall pointed her wand at Colin and the jinx was lifted.

            "Very well," said McGonagall finally. "I will ask the house elves to come fix this. Everybody go to bed. Hermione, stand up, you're coming with me."

            For a second, nobody moved, but, upon seeing McGonagall's face, everybody turned unwillingly away and, whispering, went back up to their rooms.

            "How'd it start?" Neville asked Seamus, the only one who had been down there at the time.

            "Amber called Hermione a mudblood," he answered, setting the alarm on his watch carefully.

            "But both Malfoys," Ron said, glancing at Devin, "have called her that before."

            "Yeah, well, then Hermione wanted to put her in detention. Amber spat at her. Then she lost her temper."

            "That doesn't seem like Hermione," Harry said, getting under his blankets.

            "Well, Hermione's under a lot of pressure from all her classes now. And Amber's been goading her since the start of term."

            "Will you please shut up?" Devin said. "I'm trying to get some sleep here."

            Harry shut the curtains and fell promptly to sleep.

            The next day at breakfast, Harry was surprised to see Amber was still at the school, looking quite cheerful. The fight in Gryffindor tower was the talk of the whole school. Hermione was silent and brooding at breakfast, but she excelled in Defense against the Dark Arts that day, when their team that had been reduced to four (Harry, Hermione, Neville and Ron) successfully defeated the vampire with only Neville down for the count. In Potions that day, Snape explained what the purple potion Amber had drunk was.

            "There is a potion called Amethyst Eyes, due to the way that it makes the eyes turn purple. It can make a person exceptionally strong and fast. However, more than a drop of it can kill someone, so its use has been made illegal."

            That day at dinner, Professor McGonagall got up to speak.

            "May I have your attention?"

            They all focused on her wondering if she was going to talk about the fight the night before.

            "We have just received a letter that has invited our school to participate in the Junior World Quidditch Cup. Madam Hooch will assemble a team of seven students to be the school team. Tryouts will be held soon. Schools from all over the world will compete for the title of champion. For this reason, the inter-house Quidditch cup will cease to continue; however any players who were on their house teams are eligible to try out for the school team. Contact Madam Hooch for further details."

            "Cool!" said Seamus, leaning across the table. "Are you going to try out?"

            "Are you kidding me? Of course!" said Ron.

            "Yeah, me too," said Harry.

            "I'm in," Ginny agreed.

            "I think everyone is trying out," said Devin. "So why waste your time all agreeing to it?"

            They ignored him.

            "So, where do you think it's going to be held? The same place as the real World Cup?"

            "Nah, I heard that they're building some kind of stadium in Switzerland," said Seamus.

            "Yeah, that'd be nice. I've always wanted to go to Switzerland."

            "Who do you think will make the team?"

            "Pretty much all of the Gryffindor players are excellent. I'm sure Harry will make the team, and maybe me," said Ginny.

            "Yeah," Seamus said, "Harry will definitely make the team."

            "Well, the other seekers are pretty good too. I mean, Ernie Macmillan is okay, but Cho Chang and Draco Malfoy are really good."

            "No, my brother sucks," said Devin.

            "Wow, you're actually sticking up for Gryffindor?" asked Ron.

            "No, I'm just telling the truth."

            They continued to talk about the upcoming world cup until dinner was over and returned to the now-repaired Gryffindor common room. Harry remembered the note from the previous night and wondered if he should go or not. It might be a trap, but, on the other hand, it might be Lupin or another member of the Order trying to tell him something. He finally decided to take Ron's idea and ask Hermione.

            "Don't go," were the first words out of her mouth.

            "But what if this is something important?" asked Harry.

            "Then they could have at least told you who it was."

            "But what if they couldn't? Or didn't want to?"

            "Well, if your heart's so set on going, I won't stop you. But I'm going with you."

            "What? Hermione!"

            "Listen, if we're together, it's much safer."

            "Alright, thanks. I'll meet you here at 11 with the cloak."

            At about 11:00 they met outside the portrait hole and threw on the invisibility cloak.

            "All set?" asked Hermione.

            "Yep, let's go."

            They crept downstairs and out of the castle. As they stepped outside, the air was freezing cold. Hermione shivered beneath the cloak. They got closer together for warmth and started towards the flesh-eating pumpkins. The wind was howling, and the shadows of trees in the forbidden forest swayed eerily. When they reached the vegetable patch, they didn't see anyone there. And then four shrouded figures stepped out and surrounded them.

            "How can they see us?" whispered Hermione.

            Studying the figures more closely, Harry thought he knew them. Joyfully, he threw off the cloak and smiled. Amy, Annette, Sarah and Zack were there.

            "Did we scare you?' asked Sarah. "Because that would be so cool."

            "Um… sort of," said Hermione.

            "Oh, Hermione, you're here too?" asked Amy.

            "Yeah," said Hermione. "We thought it might've been a trap.

            "Where's Benny?" asked Harry. "It's not full moon for a while."

            "Oh, he and some guy named Remus Lupin are hanging out at that house you told us about," said Annette.

            "You don't mean Grimmauld Place?" asked Harry, surprised.

            "Yeah, those guys believe us. As for Kevin… well, I assume Hermione's already told you?"

            "Yeah. I'm sorry…"

            "Anyway," said Annette, "Harry, we have to talk to you alone."

            "I'll go back," offered Hermione.

            "No need," said Sarah. "I'll stay with you."

            Zack, Amy and Annette led Harry away towards the forbidden forest. Once they stopped, no one spoke for a moment.

            "So, what's this all about, asked Harry finally.

            "Remember when we first met you said you had the Silver Drakhen?" said Amy.

            "Yeah."

            "Well, we used our focus to trace it, and assured ourselves that it had chosen you. It gave itself to your mother years ago, who stored it away for you. She died before she was going to give it to you."

            "What do you mean it's chosen me?"

            Zack answered this time. "It means that you're the one who's meant to go inside it."

            "Why me?"

            "Because in there is the power to defeat Voldemort."

            "You know about the Prophecy?"

            "Yes, Lupin told us."

            "What building is it?"

            "We don't know," said Zack, "but we think it might be Salazar Slytherin's tomb. It's called the Tomb of Time because in there, time works differently than out here… we don't understand exactly everything about it, but we can tell you that to defeat Voldemort, you have to go in there."

            "So, can't this wait?"

            "There are eight more months until Voldemort has sapped all of Dumbledore's power... and then he will be unstoppable."

            "You mean within the next eight months, I have to go in there?"

            "Right."

            "How do you know all this?"

            "Because the Mentor told us. The Mentor was the one who gave it to your mother. His family had been protecting it for generations."

            "Okay, but don't you need a key to get inside?"

            "Right…that's the difficult part. The Mentor has the key."

            "Didn't they take it off him when he went to Azkaban?"

            "No, I don't think so."

            "Which means…"

            "Right," said Annette, piping up for the first time. "We need to go to Azkaban."


	12. Chapter 12: Quidditch Tryouts

**Chapter 12: Quidditch Tryouts**

            "Are you crazy?" cried Harry, quite a bit louder than he wanted to.

            "Shh! Keep your voice down," scolded Amy. "Yeah, I know it sounds stupid but I-"

            "If you're so intent on getting the key, why not go yourselves?"

            "Because he'll only give it to you."

            "Than go and bring him to me! Listen, I have enough on my shoulders right now with the prophecy and things-"

            "Harry," Annette said seriously. "When I saw you on the train, I knew there was something special about you. You're brave and can take care of yourself. Please, Harry."

            "Why not have Lupin or Tonks or Moody or someone from the order do it?"

            "Well, they're helping get us there and Moody's going to work on a distraction, but…" She trailed off.

            "You want me to go into the most heavily guarded prison in existence, get some key, go into this silver Drakhen and do something, yet you have no idea what it is? And all alone?"

            "No," said Annette quietly. "Not alone. You'll have us. You'll have me."

            Annette reached out and touched his hand. Harry stopped for a second. The world seemed to stop with him. By the faint lights of the castle above, Harry could see her eyes, filled with intoxicating liquor, which seemed to be washing over him, drowning him. Her skin felt soft like warm Spanish chocolate. For a second, everything left his mind. Sirius, the prophecy, Voldemort, Dumbledore, the Drakhen, the key, Azkaban… it all seemed to fade away; there was only Annette, only the warmth, only the love. And, suddenly, it all came flying back at him, a bucket of ice water dumped across his feelings.

            "I…I…I don't know…I can't…"

            "You can."

            Annette's voice was soft, but he felt his insides soar, he could, he really could, he could do anything.

            "I…I'll try," stammered Harry.

            Annette retracted her hand. He still felt warmth where his hand once was, he wanted so much to simply hug her then, hold her until it was all over.

            "Thank you," said Amy, smiling. "Remember that mirror Sirius gave you last year? Well, we have the other half. If you ever need to talk to us, we'll be there."

            Harry nodded. It was difficult to concentrate, he felt dazed and confused.

            "We have eight months before Dumbledore dies which gives us until right before your end-of-term. Tonks is arranging some form of transportation, but we don't even exactly know where it is. It's supposed to be on an island or something."

            "Right…well…"

            Harry was at a loss for words. Everything was coming at him far too quickly. He looked the three of them up and down and heard Sarah calling Hermione a frog for some strange reason. Inadvertently, all four of them looked over for a second and then looked back at each other, trying to keep straight faces. It seemed to bring Harry back to his senses.

            "Okay, well, thanks," said Harry dumbly.

            Zack and Amy shook his hand which seemed a little bit too formal for the occasion. The Annette gave him a big hug. The feeling of warmth returned nearly knocking Harry off his feet. Harry didn't remember exactly what happened next, but he found himself in his bed, wondering vaguely why he was feeling this way, and entirely glad he was.

            The next two weeks passed, for Harry, in a flurry of activity. Between hard Quidditch training sessions with students from all four houses, a mounting workload from all his teachers and practicing with the other members of Drakeweed, Harry scarcely had time to worry about the trip to Azkaban. He still hadn't told Ron or Hermione about it, because doing so would reveal the truth about the prophecy and the end of last year, and Harry wasn't quite ready to tell them yet. Amber and Hermione continued to bicker and their nightly feuds could be heard from all over Gryffindor tower. The first few times it was quite interesting to listen in, but by the fourth night in a row, everyone was grumbling the next morning.

            In Defense against the Dark Arts, Professor Artemis had started training them on auras, magical fields that affected an area and could change the properties of it. Hogwarts, for example, had many auras placed upon it, some to increase learning and others to ward off intruders. Both unplotibility and the anti-apperation field were very advanced auras. He was training them on how to detect and combat some of the more common auras and even to create some. Unfortunately, after Lavender made a mistake casting a cheerfulness aura over the classroom and all wood surfaces in the room began to quickly grow thick pink fur, Professor Artemis returned to simply lecturing on them.

            The morning of the Quidditch tryouts dawned cold and grey, but by lunchtime the cloud cover had burned off, and, besides a slight breeze it was near-perfect Quidditch weather. Nearly all of the students who were not competing had come out to watch, fighting for the best seats in the stands as the battle raged over the field. Madam Hooch began the proceedings by yelling "SORONOMUS!" so her voice could be heard above all the cheering. Then she began.

            "Wizarding schools from all over the world play Quidditch. However, besides small inter-school competitions within countries, there have been no massive tournaments for younger wizards. However, this year, Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge has joined in for the International Junior Quidditch Tournament. Today, we will select a team, from those who have been drafted by their houses, to represent the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in Switzerland this spring.

            "To determine which players are the best, we will be holding a series of competitions, to determine who is best suited for each position on the field and selecting two alternates as well. We will first decide on the position of beater. Because beaters usually work in teams, the two selected beaters will be from the same house. We will release five bludgers, which the beaters must use to knock one another off their brooms. The last standing beater and his or partner will become the Hogwarts beater. Are there any questions?"

            There weren't.

            "Then let's begin!"

            Harry watched from the competitor's stands as eight shapes rose into the sky in teams of two. The two beaters from the Gryffindor, Andrew Kirke and Jack Sloper, were, in Harry's private opinion, certainly did not live up to Fred and George's legacy. Harry also saw Crabbe and Goyle, the Slytherin beaters, who had a lot more brawn than brain or flying ability, but they managed to stay afloat.

            The five bludgers went spinning up in the air and all aimed at a different person. Both Ravenclaw candidates, Crabbe, one o the Hufflepuff candidates, Justin Fitch-Fletchley, and Andrew all held out their bats, poised to strike. One of the Ravenclaw candidates became the first eliminated, the rest were knocked back. Justin knocked his, interestingly enough, straight at his partner with a lot of force. Harry soon saw why. With the power of both the Hufflepuff beaters, the bludger soared off at an amazing speed, chopping up the air as it rammed straight into Goyle. Goyle fell from his broom, and a bludger sent by Jack Sloper chased him. Just before he hit the ground, he knocked it with all his force back, and Jack Sloper became the third eliminated.

            Now there were only five candidates left, exactly as many as there were bludgers. However, Harry seemed to notice that, rather than trading around equally, the bludgers seemed to ebb and flow, nearly all of them aiming at one person. The other Hufflepuff contender was the first to take the brunt of it, as he sent four of the bludgers straight at Terry Boot and took the fifth one right in his stomach. Now there was only one contestant remaining from each house.

            They sent the bludgers back and forth, now furiously swiping at them. In an attempt to dodge, Andrew climbed into the air when a bludger hit him hard from behind. One hand still on his bat, he grabbed the broom and dropped below it, knocking another black ball straight at Justin. Justin dived below it and hit it upwards towards Crabbe, who was taking the brut of three others. Crabbe knocked all four straight at Terry, following them up with a fifth. Terry didn't stand a chance, and Ravenclaw became the first house eliminated from the beater competition.

            Andrew was hanging perilously from his broom, completely still in midair. He was successfully knocking each bludger back, but it was only a matter of time until he was knocked off. Sure enough, Crabbe sent a bludger straight at his feet. Tried to kick it but lost his hold on his broom. The broom flew safely to the ground while Andrew went soaring through the air. Andrew had one last chance though. Ditching his beater's bat he reached out his right hand at the perfect moment and grabbed onto the back of Justin's broom. Justin, with a cry of fury, attempted a barrel roll to send him flying off; however, it just gave Andrew a better handhold while unbalancing Justin. With a yell of triumph, Andrew pulled himself up, grabbed Justin's bat from behind and used Justin as a shield from all five of the bludger, before bringing him not-so-safely to the ground.

            Crabbe and Andrew circled each other and Harry could swear he heard Crabbe growling. Bludgers flew back and forth at a tremendous pace, each time one was deflected, another was already there. For several minutes the insane game of midair ping-pong happened, and then, suddenly, Crabbe shot foreword under a pack of bludgers. The bludgers wheeled around and followed him, streaking past Andrew on the way up. Andrew drew back, and raised his bat. The first bludger came soaring from below. Rather than aim at Crabbe, he sent this one spinning into another bludger sending both off harmlessly, for the time being at least. The next two were traveling together. Andrew, with one swipe, sent them both after Malfoy, who was far out of range. The last one came soaring up and he knocked it up… and it chose him again as the target. It flew down, and in a split second Andrew was falling from Justin's broom. Crabbe and Goyle had become the new beaters for the Hogwarts team. The Slytherin end erupted in cheers.

            "The next competition," Madam Hooch continued as Crabbe soared above the bleachers amid cheers, "will be to decide upon the keeper. The four present keepers are Ronald Weasley of Gryffindor, Alexander McCormack of Hufflepuff, Adrianne Johnson of Ravenclaw and Michael Brady of Slytherin! They will all gather within this ring."

            She rose her wand up, and, to the amazement of everybody watching, a blue-and-gold ring of sparks appeared in the center of the Quidditch pitch.

            "They cannot leave this ring. Illusionary quaffles will fly from each of the goal posts, and they will disappear when someone touches them. The scoreboard has been changed around to count the number of touches each keeper gets. The first keeper to reach thirty touches wins this round. Ready? GO!"

            All four keepers shot into the air… and waited. No balls were coming. They all circled the edges of the ring, awaiting the quaffles. None came for about two minutes. And then, just as they had begun to let their guard down, about twenty of quaffles flew from both ends of the pitch straight into the circle. They all flew at different levels which meant that it would be very difficult to get more than a few, and some were bound to be missed. Sure enough, each keeper got three points except for Ron who, accelerating in a downward dive, hurtled straight down to the ground, falling directly through no less than five quaffles. A great cheer erupted from the Gryffindor end of the stadium. The keepers got back into formation and awaited the next wave of quaffles.

            After a minute of waiting, Harry saw a single red ball flying straight toward the right side of the circle. All four keepers had seen it too, and blasted off in that direction, getting as near to the edge of the ring as they dared. As the quaffle was approaching, Alex seemed to have an idea. He reversed upwards and then flew straight for all three of them who were grouped together to get the quaffle. All three dodged foreword and, in unison hit the air below the floating circle boundary. There was a loud crack, and three pieces of lightning flew off the sparking circle and hit all three of them. They spun back into the circle, looking dazed and confused. In the few seconds it took them to get their bearings back, Alex had captured the point.

            But now the heat was on. Quaffles began flying at random from either side of the stadium and nearly every time a quaffle neared them, a crack was heard. Michael Brady of Slytherin thought up a way to counteract this. He flew small loops at the center of the circle and, when all three dived for it and were knocked back, he would swoop in and grab any quaffle. Unfortunately, this happened rarely, and he was soon lagging behind, though he stuck behind the strategy. The other three were neck-and-neck, Ron pulling slightly ahead, as he moved erratically and came from all directions to run the others out of the circle. Quaffles were increasingly becoming timed in the worst possible ways. Often, two quaffles would come, one very high and another very low. Rather than go for different ones, it seemed that all the contenders would fight for the nearest one, leaving the other to sail overhead. The score was close. Ron was at 29, both Alex and Adrianne were at 28 and Michael was lagging behind with only 26.

            Then, suddenly, the quaffles stopped. There was another two minutes of silence. Then, what seemed like two quaffles stuck together flew through the air nearly thirty feet above them. Whoever got this would win (except for Michael, who would be given a fighting chance). In unison, four brooms turned nearly vertically upwards, and Harry watched in amazement as all four shot straight up at a breakneck pace. Michael had started out ahead, but Alex was pulling up, with Ron and Adrianne trailing. The quaffles seemed like they were going to pass straight through the ring with nobody catching them. And then, suddenly, at the center of the ring, they began to fall straight down.

            Alex and Michael shot up past the combination quaffle and turned directly around, but were now lagging far behind. Ron made a sharp turn towards Adrianne, who dodged and hit the edge. Ron reached out with both hands, the victory was almost his. He felt wind nearby as Michael and Alex flew past him and began to circle below in case he dropped it. However, it didn't look like Ron had much of a chance of missing it. Just as Ron was about to clap both hands on the side of the joint ball when Adrianne, still pulsating with electricity, knocked straight into him. It was enough to shock him for long enough so that the ball dropped between his open arms and down towards the watchers below. There was a great "Ooh" of disappointment from both the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor crowds, but neither Ron nor Adrianne was out of the running. They turned and streaked downwards.

            Ron flew past the quaffle which seemed to be falling quite slowly, and pulled out of his dive on roughly the same level as Michael and Alex. Adrianne flew below them. The quaffle was falling right in between all three. Like sharks on prey, they attacked it, all going for it at once. Michael hit Alex halfway there, and Alex went spinning backwards. Now only Ron, Michael and Adrianne were still in the running. Harry silently cheered Ron, as he was so nervous about the seeker match that he was practically unable to whisper, let alone shout. Ron and Michael arrived at the same time. Both put their hands out… and they were hit by a double midair back flip from Adrianne. They had fallen to either side. Now Alex, being lower, was the favorite for the ball. And then Adrianne dropped from her broom.

            Screams of terror erupted from the stadium. Madam Hooch, Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick and Madam Pomphrey ran together in a square and, with a swish of their wands, formed a tarp on which Adrianne was to land. Adrianne flew through the air, stretching her feet out to touch the ball, just as Alex's fingers were about to close over it. And then the ring turned blue. Alex flew backward and was hit by lightning. Adrianne fell with a broad smile on her face right into the middle of the magical tarp among loud cheering from the blue-robed Ravenclaws. She had been selected as the Hogwarts keeper.

            "Now," said Madam Hooch in her magically magnified voice once the tarp was removed, "we will be selecting a seeker! Seekers are often referred to as the most important players on a team, and I fully agree, so may our selection of a seeker be a good one!"

            Harry looked at his competition. There was Cho Chang, Harry's old crush, Ernie Macmillan, a Hufflepuff Harry occasionally hung out with and Draco Malfoy who Harry hated with a passion.

            "This competition will be short and simple. A single Snitch will be released. The first seeker to capture it wins the honor of representing Hogwarts."

            Well, that's pretty easy, Harry thought, his stomach churning with anxiety. We don't even have to dodge bludgers or anything. I should be able to win this hands-down. Though the words were going through his head, his body didn't seem to believe it. He was shaking as he mounted his Firebolt and smiled up at the shouting Gryffindor crowd.

            "From Slytherin, we have Draco Malfoy,"

            Malfoy launched up amid a standing ovation from his house. Harry swore that his entrance couldn't have been cheesier if his teeth had sparkled.

            "From Hufflepuff, Ernie Macmillan!"

            Ernie Macmillan was a complete contrast from the swooping Malfoy. He looked nearly as scared as Harry as he drove his broom into the sky, waving timidly at his shouting, stamping supporters.

            "From Ravenclaw, please welcome Cho Chang!"

            Cho, too, looked quite nervous, but much less so than Ernie. She gave a hearty attempt at a wave and joined the others circling above the stadium. Harry was up next, and he could feel his blood get cold. This was it, he was about to play the Quidditch match that might decide whether he played in the Junior World Cup or not. He had, he assumed, a one in four chance of winning, but somehow, seeing the humungous crowd, he felt that that was less than reassuring. He saw Hermione, Neville, Lavender, Umiko and Pravati holding up a big sign with the ornate lettering GO HARRY and he felt slightly better. Gulping, he awaited Madam Hooch's cry.

            "Last but not least, we have… from the house of Gryffindor… Harry Potter!"

            Harry shoved himself off the ground and went hurtling into the sky, feeling the wind blow silkily against his face. And now he knew it: he was going to win this match. The whistle blew, and they were off, all four scanning for the elusive snitch. Harry scarcely had time to watch the others as they shot upwards. Harry had a new plan he had worked on in training. If they were all above looking down, he could be inches from the grass, looking up. It would be much easier to feint and the snitch often liked to hang low. However, that gave him a much more limited field of vision, so he would have to watch his competitors for any signs of the snitch.

            For five minutes, there was nothing. The sun was hot and Harry was already sweating fiercely under his red and gold Quidditch robes. All for of them had made a few feints, however after a few times people stopped believing them. Thinking strategically, Harry decided it could probably be a good thing to be the boy who cried wolf, so he feinted more than anyone else, and pretty soon, everyone ignored his random swoops and dives. When the real snitch surfaced, Harry would be able to go after it with relative ease, presuming he was the first one to spot it.

            He wasn't. Malfoy was. Malfoy had just started another feint; shooting straight at the Hufflepuff stands when he turned abruptly and shot down towards the ground, where Harry saw a flash of gold poking a dandelion with its wings tentatively. As it saw both Harry and Malfoy shoot for it, leaning out so far they were almost parallel with their brooms and Ernie and Cho following not too far behind, it took flight, going even lower than it was. There was no way to fly a broom that low. Harry heard a crack and a wave of laughter from the crowd and turned for long enough to see that Malfoy had hit the ground and rolled off his broom and then Harry pulled out of his dive seamlessly, picked up his feet so he was lying flat on the broom and shot forward inches from the ground, gaining on the snitch and leaving Cho and Ernie behind… And then the snitch dived down a rabbit hole and out of sight. Cursing, Harry shot back up to slightly below laying height.

            The snitch reappeared less than a minute later, just as Malfoy had rejoined the game, grimacing in pain. It was, it seemed to Harry a very playful snitch (Harry wondered if Sarah had been transfigured into a snitch for the game), as it was seen playing with Ginny's hair down on the competitor's bench. All four of them seemed to see it at once and four brooms shot straight at Ginny's head. Harry was very far ahead, and the others had no chance of catching up.

            "Ginny, look out!" Harry yelled.

            Ginny didn't need telling twice. She threw herself aside as Harry reached for the snitch… and the snitch bonked him once, painfully on the nose and disappeared again. Now it was Harry's turn to plow straight into the bench at fifty miles per hour and fall heavily on the ground. He saw stars. He was too confused, nothing seemed right, how was he supposed to continue the match? There was a blur of faces above in the bleachers screaming madly, but Harry, despite the fat that he still felt his glasses intact and in place, couldn't see them…

            He gritted his teeth, shook his head clean, and mounted his broom. But it seemed to be too late. The other three were shooting for the snitch which had decided it wanted to do rough figure eights around the entire stadium, occasionally hiding behind spectators. Harry shot straight up at the middle of the figure eight, but Ernie was far ahead, and was just about to clamp his hands around it… And the snitch then turned around, flew straight over Ernie's head and towards Cho. Harry was just behind Cho, who was reaching furiously out… The snitch evaded her grasping fingers and (with a gasp from the crowd) did a small circle and tangled itself up in her hair.

            Screaming, Cho's hands ripped and tore at the hair that she had spent so much time caring for. The snitch didn't seem to care, flapping madly around in there. Harry flew up behind her and, feeling his face turn red, plunged his hand between her thick hairs. Cho screamed. Harry retracted his hand. The snitch had left her hair and was once again out of sight. Cho gave Harry a look of pure loathing and set off again in her search.

            But it wasn't long until Ernie was shooting for something and Harry, catching a glint of gold, followed. It was now investigating one of the goal rings, and Ernie was closer than anybody else. Harry saw an opportunity. He smashed into Malfoy, who was beside him at the time and Malfoy hit the post that supported the goal ring. The ring shuddered for a moment and the snitch took off in a panicked flight straight towards Harry and Cho, who was just behind him.

            Cho dropped down. Harry shot up. The snitch flew between them. Both shot out at it, feeling Malfoy and Ernie trailing, but catching up. Harry reached out. The snitch was right there, right in front of his hand. Harry saw Cho's arm do the same, with a look on her face that implied she had a personal vendetta against the small, gold ball for messing up her hair. Harry's hand clasped over something silky and smooth – the snitch's wing! Cho had grabbed the other wing. Both wings ripped off and the golden ball began to fall towards the ground.

            All four of them dropped, watching as the golden ball hit a stand, and bounced upwards, it's light weight carried by the wind. In unison, all four swerved back upwards after the ball which was out of control. Harry mentally urged the Firebolt on. C'mon, this is my big chance! He threw his arm out. He felt something just beyond his reach. He grabbed again. This time hr\e grasped something cold and metallic. He had the snitch! Shouting for joy, he held up the gleaming ball to the roaring crowd. He had won, and would be playing seeker for Hogwarts that spring at the Junior Quidditch World Cup.


	13. Chapter 13: All Hallow's Eve

It might be a while before my next chapter. Thanks for reading, anyway, please review.

**Chapter 13: All Hallow's Eve**

"How'd chaser tryouts go?" Harry asked Ron as they emerged from the showers.

            "Ginny won! She's a chaser!"

            "Who else?"

            "Hannah Abbot from Hufflepuff and… Devin Malfoy."

            "So our team is Hannah Abbot, Adrianne Johnson, Crabbe, Goyle, Devin, Ginny and me?"

            "Yup. But guess what, Harry? I'm an alternate!"

            "Good job. Who's the other alternate?"

            "Ernie Macmillan."

            "Cool. Well, I don't like Crabbe, Goyle or Malfoy, but the rest of the team sounds pretty solid. We certainly have a shot at winning."

            "Are you crazy? All the top schools from around the globe will be playing there. Sure, Hogwarts has good players, but besides you and Devin, none of us have really good broomsticks."

            "You got a new broomstick last year…"

            "Yeah, but it's no Firebolt or Nimbus Two Thousand and One."

            "Maybe we'll all be given Firebolts."

            "Yeah, I wish."

            "Hey, you guys," yelled Hermione, running up just as they were leaving the changing room. "You both made the team!"

            They nodded.

            "I can't believe it! I wish I could go to Switzerland to watch you guys! Wow, wow, wow! You should see Ginny, she was so happy she cried!"

            "I saw you up there in the stands," said Harry. "I don't think I could have done it without your sign."

            Just then, Hagrid came striding up with a big smile on his face.

            "All righ' there, Harry? I saw yeh out there, yeh were amazin'! I thought Cho 'ad gotten yeh for a second there, but yeh pulled through in the end."

            "Thanks, Hagrid!"

            Behind Hagrid were Professor McGonagall and Madam Hooch trying to get past the crowd to shake everybody's hand and Professor Artemis. From below his dementor-like cowl Harry swore he could hear him whisper "Congratulations."

            For the next two weeks, the only thing anybody in the school talked about was the tryouts and the upcoming match. Some angry people claimed that some of the contestants had cheated by using Amethyst Eyes or some other form of magic. Practices were held daily and Harry found that in midair, he was able to get along with Devin, Crabbe and Goyle enough to play a good game. They all returned too tired to talk and collapsed back to do homework in the library after each session. Madam Hooch was a more strenuous coach than even Oliver Wood had been, driving them outdoors in all weather and showing them squiggly diagrams that nearly no one could understand. In addition to Quidditch and school work, Seamus had barrowed a recording shrub from Professor Sprout and Drakeweed recorded their first single, _You're in my Pensieve_.

            Halloween dawned with an ominous feel to it. The sky was green after the terrible thunderstorm they had had the night before. The corridors had been decorated with Jack-O'-Lanterns and the Hogwarts ghosts flew about the castle more than ever, but there was something _wrong_ in the air, like there was something much scarier behind the veil of festivities.

            Harry woke up late and had just enough time to wolf down a piece of toast before he was off to Care of Magical Creatures. Today, Harry found out what Luna had been going on about the first day of school: Hagrid was showing them the real Crumple-Horned Snorkacks, creatures Luna had tried to convince everyone had existed all last year. One Snorkack became attached to Harry and had followed him around to all his classes (much to the amusement of Professor Flitwick and the disdain of Professor McGonagall), crumpling and uncrumpling its horn noisily until lunchtime when Hagrid came to the castle to finally remove it.

            After classes, Harry discovered, to his immense relief, that Quidditch practice had been cancelled for the Halloween festivities, so Harry went to the library trying to catch up on all his work. After he had finished another boring essay for Snape, this one on Anti-Sweating potions, he returned to his dormitory trying to catch up on a little sleep before the feast began. Just as he was about to fall asleep, he heard a voice from his bag.

            "Harry! Harry, are you there?"

            Sleepily, Harry opened up his bag and took out the two-way mirror that Sirius had given him. Zack's face stared back at him.

            "Hey, man, what's up?" Zack said. "Talking in this mirror is really weird."

            "Stop whipping it around like that, I can barely see your face!"

            "Hey, I heard a copy of your leaf. The wizarding world's been lacking a good punk band for some time; I've had to listen to muggle music. You should get a contract with Sounds of the Forest."

            "Thanks. We're not really _that_ good, though."

            "Heh. Anyway, I was told I had to get in contact with… Sarah, get away!"

            Just then Sarah's head appeared behind Zack.

            "Oh, this mirror is so cool! I don't even look like me, I look like a bed. And, Zack, you look like Harry! Can I see the mirror, pretty please?"

            "No."

            "PLEASE?"

            Harry just laughed. The Forgotten felt like really good friends despite the fact that he didn't know them that well.

            "Anyway, Harry," Zack said, shoving Sarah out of the vision of the mirror, "I have to tell you. Do not, whatever you do, do not leave the castle tonight."

            "But-"

            "Just promise me, Harry."

            "Fine, but at least tell me why."

            "Listen, there are some people who would be more than happy to have your head. And tonight's the night they picked to pay a visit to Hogwarts."

            "Can you tell me more?"

            "Nope, I told you all Moody told me."

            "Moody? That guy's just paranoid."

            "Well, maybe, but he sounded really worried this time. He said because Dumbledore's in a coma, there's nothing stopping the Death Eaters from executing their plan tonight."

            "Oh, alright, fine, I won't go out. But what if a whole bunch of people are also outside. We're going to have a big bonfire."

            "NO! Get everyone inside; make sure no one but the teachers is out there."

            "Are you sure you don't know more?"

            "I swear this is all I know, but everyone is telling me that it's really dangerous. Just stay in and with at least, well, Moody says thirty, but I say two or three other people."

            "Okay, I'll do that. Just tonight?"

            "Yep, if it doesn't happen tonight, it won't happen for a while."

            "Okay. How's everyone else? How's Annette?"

            "Well, you saw me and Sarah. Annette's pretty good, she's written like 50 letters to you, but she doesn't think they're good enough to send, so she throws them all out. She's a really good girl, you're damn lucky. Benny and Lupin have become really good friends, last full moon they chased each other all over London. Frightened some of the muggles half to death. Amy was officially inducted into the order."

            "How about Annette? Isn't she the same age?"

            "Yeah, well, they said she was too emotional still. She had a right fit about it. To tell the truth, I'm not so happy about it either, I'm older than Amy, and they wouldn't let me in. But Mundugus is showing me the ropes around the wizarding underworld."

            "Cool. Well, the feast is coming up soon, so I'd better go."

            "Yeah, well, see ya around. But remember my warning."

            And then a ripple appeared in the center of the mirror and the mirror buckled outwards until the ripple reached the edge, and Zack's face was gone, replaced by Harry's. Harry sighed, tossed the mirror back in his bag, gave a dark look to the silver Drakhen that he hadn't touched since he arrived here at Hogwarts and set off for the feast.

            The feast was the usual, with gigantic pumpkins overlooking tables and snapping at anybody who passed. Nearly Headless Nick pulled off his head to a battery of applause and then began some synchronized flying with the Fat Friar, goaded on by a rather terrifying Bloody Baron. The sky had finally cleared up, but the stars seemed somehow dark, and the moon was a new moon so didn't appear in the sky. After they finished eating more than their fair share of food, the food disappeared from the magical plates, and Harry heard Seamus roar, "BONFIRE!"

            "C'mon, Harry, Hermione, let's go!" yelled Ron throwing on his heavy robes.

            "I have lots of homework. This year is even harder than the last," Hermione said.

            "Oh, come on, don't be like that. Oh well, Harry, let's go!"

            "You know," began Harry, trying to find the best way to phrase this without letting him know about Zack's mysterious warning. "I think I'll just call it an early night. We've been having so much Quidditch practice lately."

            "Suit yourself," said Ron haughtily as he stalked away to join Seamus and Neville.

            Sighing in disappointment, Harry followed Hermione up to the Gryffindor tower and got back into bed. He didn't really want to sleep, so he turned to the window and watched as nearly three-quarters of the school lit fireworks, danced and conversed loudly surrounded by kegs of butterbeer and mounds of Honeydukes sweets. About halfway through the night, Harry saw Seamus walk over to the song flower and put in the Drakeweed leaf. We have some serious talent, Harry thought with a quick smile as the crowd cheered. He heard the portrait hole shut below him and then heard Amber and Hermione start arguing again over something stupid before they both stalked off to bed

            And then, just as Harry was settling down to sleep, despite the noise from outside, the door to the dormitory swung open, letting in a crack of light. Harry pretended to be away. Two people came in, but neither sounded like any of Harry's roommates. He opened his eyes a crack. Both were wearing black cloth covering all of them but their eyes and nose. Ad they were going through Harry's bag. With a sinking sensation in his stomach, Harry realized at once what they were looking for. One triumphantly pulled out the Drakhen and they quickly left.

            Harry jumped out of bed and yelled "THIEF!"

            He rushed out the door wearing pajamas. The common room was filled a few bodies of Gryffindors who had come back from the party and they were all in a deep sleep. Nearing the portrait hole were the two thieves. Hearing Harry, they sprinted through and took off down the hallway beyond. Harry quickly cast an eye around the room for anyone to help and then flung himself out the hole after them. The fat lady's portrait had been ripped from the wall and lay, cracked, in the hallway nearby. Harry felt sort of sorry for the fat lady; this was the second time she had been attacked.

            The thieves were fast and Harry was just barely able to keep up with them as they rounded corners in the tight hallways. They ran up some steps that Harry had never seen before and into a hallway full of unused classrooms at the top of the castle. Meanwhile, he pulled out his wand, but wasn't, as of yet, able to get a lock on them to cast a spell.

            At they turned and ran into another corridor, Harry watched as one of the thieves, who sounded female, yelled "DESTRUCTIFY!" pointing at a nearby door. The door exploded, sending splinters of wood out in a cloud of dust into the hallway. This was followed by literally hundreds of quaffles rolling out of the closet and flooding the floor. Harry, unable to stop himself, ran right into the thick of the bouncing balls. He felt his feet slip and he rolled with the balls backwards, bouncing painfully down the stairs and out of sight.

            "This ain't over yet," said Harry grimly as the sea of quaffles washed him down the hallway.

            Harry grabbed hold of a nearby door handle and pulled himself up out of the rolling balls. Turning the force that the balls had exerted on him around, Harry planted his feet on the wall and began to run across the wall, feeling gravity try to pull him down. Just as he was about to fall right back into the river of quaffles, he jumped, rolling out at the back end of the river, a few last-ditch quaffles streaking by him in an attempt to catch up with their fellows.

            Harry was behind, but the race wasn't over yet. He flew up the stairs, holding wand ready and skidded around a corner. He saw the thieves at the end of the hallway, one triumphantly holding the Drakhen… and it was a windowless dead end. They turned around, and stopped for a second upon seeing Harry. Harry jumped up and threw his feet out to the sides so he was straddling the wall for greater accuracy and yelled "STUPEFY!"

            The stunner shot down at the female thief who was running back towards him. The thief jumped into the air, and seeing a purple glow shining on the folds of her black suit, realized she had used Amethyst Eyes. The stunner hit the stone floor harmlessly. The other thief ran directly below Harry. Harry dropped precisely when the thief was under him and gripped the thief's neck in his legs. The thief toppled to the ground and threw the Drakhen up towards the female thief who was striding through the air right where Harry had been suspended moments before. She caught it with ease, landed and ran on. Harry turned and ran after her, hearing the male thief get up behind him. Harry was now surrounded by the strangers on either side.

            "IMPEDIMENTIA!" the male thief yelled.

            The bolt was shooting straight at Harry from behind. He could feel it getting closer. With no time to spare, Harry threw himself through an open door and watched as it passed him and hit the female thief. The male thief hurried past the door and removed the jinx from her before running on. Harry was once again behind both thieves as they took off down stairs and back towards Gryffindor.

            Harry jumped and did a midair front flip down the stairs and chased the thieves as they neared a window. And then, at the end of the hall, Harry noticed a window… but the thieves weren't crazy enough to jump out a window, were they? Apparently they were. The window, which was on the opposite side of the castle from the bonfire had been flung wide open and they both dived out together. Harry arrived just in time to see them land on their hands on a disc-shaped plant with a long root hanging off it that led to the lake. It was a flying lily pad, and they were making it descend fast. There was only one thing left to do. Harry jumped after them.

            They saw him as he flew towards them. With a cruel laugh, the male thief shouted "STUPEFY!" The stunner flew towards Harry. If Harry was hit, he would fall down to the ground, surely resulting in his death. It was nearing him, the pink glow analogous to a grim reaper. Harry threw himself out straight so he was parallel to the ground and yelled "PORTEGO!" he shield and the stunner met in midair, and they exploded, sending a shower of sparks out. Harry didn't have time to worry, he threw himself foreword and knocked both thieves off the lily pad – but he was falling, too.

            Now all three of them were in midair, hurtling towards the lake. In midair, all three yelled "STUPEFY!" Two stunners shot unnervingly close to Harry and one blew past the female thief. From this position, there was no way to hi one of them with a conventional spell.

            "ACCIO DRAKHEN!" yelled Harry in a last-ditch attempt to get it back before it was dropped into the lake and probably lost forever. It flew out of the thief's hands and into Harry's. And, once again, the pain in his scar became blindingly bad. Unintentionally, he dropped the Drakhen. Now, no one would get it.

            "If we're going down, you're going down with us!" shrieked the female thief. "KAZAP!"

            A bolt of lightning shot out from her wand and hi the water below. The water was pulsating with electricity, small sparks flying up from all over. If any of them landed in it, they'd be dead – and all three were headed for it. Harry closed his eyes, thinking back over his life. There were so many times he had almost died but didn't – but he wondered if his nine lives had run out and today was destined to be his last. Ron… Hermione… Annette… Amber… Sirius… Why now, why before he could experience the Junior World Cup, why before he was an adult.

            Apparently, however, someone had heard his prayers. Harry felt something slimy on his back. Opening his eyes, he realized it was one of the giant squid's tentacles. The squid itself was half out of the sizzling water and gave a humungous burp. The two thieves were also on his other tentacles, Harry was sad to see, but the Drakhen was coiled in a tentacle as well. Harry suddenly felt a great wave of gratitude towards the slimy beast, who handed (tentacled?) Harry the Drakhen and then tossed all three bodies back onto the ground nearby before disappearing under the water, which had stopped sizzling.

            The two thieves took a look at Harry, back at the giant squid, and took off. Harry wondered why they didn't peruse more, but, turning around, he saw why. Professors Sprout, Flitwick and McGonagall were all striding up. Dropping the Drakhen on the ground in pain and panting, Harry looked up weakly, giving his teachers the thumbs-up.

            "What happened?" asked Professor McGonagall prudently. "Who were they?"

            "Thieves… tried to take this…"

            "And what is-"

            Harry hurriedly covered up the sparkling eyes of the snakes with his robe, careful not to let it touch his skin.

            "Just…toy…stupid…I don't know why…"

            McGonagall pursed her lips, but said nothing.

            "Well, it's best if you go back to the castle now."

            All three teachers left, continuing around the building, talking in low voices. He suspected they had found out what it was. Harry wrapped it in his sleeve and continued up to his room, thinking, So much for staying inside.


	14. Chapter 14: Lineage

Alright, I haven't moved in just yet, but I found some time to get another chapter of this thingy done. As for everyone who reviewed, thank you so much, seriously that's great!

Uhohgirl/AuricHealer (you are the same, right?) – Thanks, that's cool. I e-mailed you, but you didn't write back, but, whatever, thankzzz XD.

( - I fixed it. XDXDXD

Sarah – I haven't.

mrsosbourneclass – Cool, thanks.

Sarah L. Padfoot – Heh, I won't.

Lilyofthevalley4 – Wow, that's a lot of reviews, thanks a bunch! Update your story, please!!! I'm not so good at characters or even writing in general, I just have lots of ideas and wanted to put them down. I'm glad you like it and thanks for all the constructive criticism XD. It gets worse (Harry's lack of defined characterization) in this chapter (heh), but I'll try my best to improve it. Yeah, it's all a little wierd, but the things about the ministry and Lucius and the Malfoys and what-not you'll find out later. Summoning = Conjuration, I should probably go back and change that to make it clearer. Okay, I will once I get my own computer back. I'll fix the spelling too XD. As for Quidditch captainship, yeah, I guess so. The courses... I don't think Harry needs Arithmancy to be an Auror, and I thought Ron might be interested in taking divination b/c of Firenze. The thing about Mrs. Weasley, you're right, damn I suck at keeping everyone in character XD. Ys, your tips are very useful, I'll go back and change these things when I have the chance, it's just that I love writing new stuff and abhor editing XD. And as for Devin, the sorting hat chose Gryffindor for a reason... Anywayze, thanks so much, best of wishes, -xy.

****

Chapter 14: Lineage

Harry stared, watching the creature ahead of him. He was back in the graveyard where Voldemort had murdered Cedric. The figure turned, and suddenly Harry saw a terrible face.

"Lord Voldemort," growled Harry.

"Yes," laughed Voldemort. "That's who I am."

His face was more terrible than ever, his eyes burning with cruel, bloody red, his skin as white as a skull. Harry grabbed his wand, so angry that red sparks were gleaming at the end of it.

"You killed my father!" yelled Harry.

Voldemort let out another high, cruel, laugh, and lowered his hood. Below his hood was matted, black hair that stuck out in all directions.

"No, Harry. I _am_ your father!" laughed Voldemort.

Harry awoke, screaming. He shook his head, breathing heavily. Neville rolled over in his sleep, and Ron blearily opened his eyes. They were used to Harry waking up screaming, it had been a recurring event for five years.

"Shut up," said Ron sleepily, before promptly losing consciousness.

Harry glanced at his clock. It was four o'clock in the morning, and Harry was looking forward to yet another Saturday of hard Quidditch practice. By the end of the second practice, Harry found himself wishing Wood was back, training them. Madam Hooch had them outside daily in all weather. Harry swore that if he had to catch the snitch one more time he would break down. Even Harry's Firebolt seemed to be dreading flying again. It had taken to hiding before each match in various different broom closets and only coming out after a disgruntled, muddy Harry who had ridden a school broom in practice threatened it with the extraction of its twigs, one by one.

Harry lay in bed for another half hour and then, realizing he probably wasn't going to get back to sleep, walked out and looked down at Hermione, Umiko, Pravati and Lavender who were sleeping in the common room having been forced out by Amber. Sighing, he decided to get to work on a difficult essay for Professor McGonagall on the conjuration of multicolored wildflowers.

The weather that day was terrible. A volcano of water had erupted upside-down above them, spitting freezing rain and hail down onto the Quidditch pitch. As soon as Harry got up into the sky on a school Silver Arrow (his Firebolt had sneaked away while Harry was changing into his Quidditch robes), and could see nothing. There was absolutely no hope of seeing the snitch in this weather. Rain and hail poured down on the late November day, drenching everything in its path with a terrible fury. After an hour of useless practice, Madam Hooch decided to call it a day and they thankfully invaded the showers.

Harry and Ron lagged behind the rest, commiserating about the lousy practice.

"That wasn't training, that was attempted murder!" Ron said angrily.

"Tell me about it," Harry said. "Hey, there you are!"

Harry's Firebolt had flown up, hovering apologetically.

"You should chain it down," said Ron.

"Yeah," said Harry.

Just then, they heard voices coming from a nearby room. Looking over, Harry noticed that it was the staff room. One voice sounded distinctly like Dumbledore, only much weaker, almost dead. Listening more closely, Harry could hear professors Snape, McGonagall and Artemis in there with him.

"You reckon we should listen?" Ron asked, a mischievous grin on his face.

Harry nodded and grinned back. They crouched and pushed their ears to the door.

"Well, do you think she knows?" asked Professor McGonagall.

"I would bet my life on it," said Snape acidly. "Remember the way she acted after that incident up in the tower?"

"The...other..." Dumbledore moaned pitifully.

"She was lost," croaked Professor Artemis.

"What are they talking about?" whispered Ron.

"I have no idea," answered Harry. "But 'that incident in the tower'...? Might they be referring to Amber?"

"What I don't understand," said Snape, "is why our dear Headmaster couldn't control himself seventeen years ago."

"The best of us can make mistakes," Professor McGonagall snapped back.

"With a muggle woman in a bar, no less?" Snape shot back.

"Our place is not to judge," Artemis croaked calmly. "We are here to fix the problems."

"Replay...the...prophecy..." Dumbledore wheezed.

There was a sound of rustling within and then Harry and Ron heard the sharp, rasping voice of a seer speaking a prophecy.

"_IF THE GREATEST MASTER OF WIZARDRY PRODUCES A CHILD, TWO WILL BE BORN. ONE WILL RISE TO SAVE HIS LIFE THE OTHER COULD BE HIS MURDERER._"

__

"I...tried," Dumbledore moaned. "I...I...didn't want...to have...a...a child. I...never...married..."

"But apparently that didn't work," sneered Snape. "Because the 'greatest master of wizardry' went slumming seventeen years ago. And now the only one the Dark Lord ever feared will be dead because of it."

"Which one do you think Amber is?" asked Professor Artemis, ignoring Snape's snide comments.

"Well, she certainly doesn't seem too loyal to Dumbledore."

"Do you think she'd kill him though?"

"Possibly. She might be the one sapping your strength right now."

"No..." whispered Dumbledore in an ethereal voice. "It is...Voldemort...for now."

"Do you think she's an agent of him? Shall we remove Amber from the school?"

Harry heard Dumbledore give a feeble cough, and then breathe slowly, heavily out.

"He's slipped back," said McGonagall.

"Tell me exactly what's going on," instructed Artemis.

"Seventeen years ago," began Professor McGonagall. "Professor Dumbledore had indulged a bit too much on some of the Three Broomsticks' good fire whiskey. He was later required at a hearing in London at the ministry, so apperated. Unfortunately, he sort of missed the ministry and went into a nearby muggle bar. He used a charm on himself to make him look a bit younger and more attractive and, well, had his way, as it were, with a young muggle woman. He awoke the next morning with a pounding headache and no memory of the incident. However, the muggle woman had become pregnant, with fraternal twins. She later gave birth to two girls, but was unable to care for them, so put them up for adoption. Both were adopted, one by a wizard named Gabriel Ramore-"

"The same Gabriel Ramore that...?" asked Snape.

"Yes," said McGonagall.

Ron and Harry looked t each other quizzically.

"We lost track of her and Ramore. The other one was adopted by a muggle family that lived in Salem, Massachusetts, the largest wizarding community in America. It was lucky that this one was raised among all these witches and wizards because when they discovered that she had a talent for magic, she was openly accepted into the arms of the community. She passed her OWLs magnificently, and has transferred this year to Hogwarts to complete her NEWTs."

"Amber?"

"Yes."

There was a slight pause.

"Who was the seer again? Not Sybil?" asked Artemis.

"No, it was actually none other than Lily Potter... or Evans at the time. It was during her fourth year at this school. Our dear Professor Flitwick heard it."

Both Ron and Harry's mouths fell open. There was silence both inside and outside the room.

"Right," said Artemis pensively. Then, suddenly, he said, "Well, we had better get Dumbledore back to St. Mungo's. This trip must have been very difficult for him. As for me, my arm is falling off, so if you'll give me a moment, I need to get Madam Pomphrey to sew it back up."

"So," said Harry to Hermione, pacing back and forth minutes later in the Gryffindor common room. "Amber is destined to kill Dumbledore and her twin sister is destined to save his life!"

"And Professor Artemis is a zombie!" added Ron.

There was a short period of silence. Hermione looked contemplative. Then she seemed to come to a decision.

"Who is this Gabriel Ramore?" Hermione asked slowly.

"Well, we have no idea," said Harry.

"Could he be like Nicholas Flamell, an old friend of Dumbledore's?"

"Well, maybe," said Hermione. "We should look him up in the library."

Hermione rushed down to the library, followed reluctantly by Harry and Ron.

"Right," she said as they got inside, "we should split up. Harry, check out the-"

"Hermione, there's a quicker way of doing this," said Ron suddenly.

Surprised, both Harry and Hermione stared at Ron, who was going slightly red around his ears. Ron had never been especially clever in the area of spell casting, and this was very unexpected.

"How?" asked Harry, as Hermione goggled.

"CONJURIUS FINDER FAIRY!"

Ron waved his wand spectacularly. For a moment there was nothing, then a blast of all the colors of the rainbow issued forth from his wand. A small, pulsating _something_ that looked almost like a round white light with wings shot forth from his wand. As it moved, a rainbow of all the colors trailed it, shining multicolored light on the dusty shelves in an entirely unreal way.

"How...that's not even in NEWTs..." Hermione stammered, looking at Ron with newfound appreciation.

Ron blushed furiously and pointed his wand again at the finder fairy which flew to rapt attention in a fresh wave of rainbow.

"Find Gabriel Ramore!"

The finder fairy nodded assent and was off in a line of prismatic colors. Harry, Ron and Hermione ran after it, following as it flew around the heads of working students who stared up in wonderment and poked at various books. Eventually, it stopped near a large volume that was entitled "ENCYCLOPEDIA MAGICKA 'A'" and gave a squeak. Then it flew into the encyclopedia, which glowed for a moment with unearthly light and then returned to its previous state.

"How'd you learn that?" asked Hermione. "Professor McGonagall is just starting on conjuring plants! Even I can't do spells like that!"

"Just a trick...I don't know..." Ron, if possible went even redder.

"Well, no matter," said Hermione, regaining her businesslike manner. "Let's start looking."

They pawed through the encyclopedia for a few hours, looking in the index and under numerous entries, and Harry looked up Ramore in Encyclopedia 'R' but his name was nowhere to be found. Ron was nearly at the point of crying when they abandoned their furtive search, believing that his fairy had led them wrong.

"Don't worry, Ron, I'm sure he's in here somewhere," said Hermione.

"What entries haven't we looked at? A list of common aardvark foods? A selection of the highest quality Aether Reduction Potion ingredients? A compendium of Alley Cat Warding Plant fertilizers? A list of all the prisoners of Azkaban? Where?"

"Look, he may not be that important. What we really need is a way to stop Amber! She's already kicked all us girls out of the room, when will she stop? We need to find a way to get her expelled!"

"If she used the Crucaius curse on you," said Ron knowledgeably," and got away with it, I don't think they're going to expel her for much else."

"I'm going to go ask Professor Flitwick about my mum," said Harry. "Maybe he'd know more."

They split up, Hermione and a dejected Ron going back to Gryffindor tower, and Harry heading off towards the third floor to speak with Professor Flitwick in his office. When Harry walked in, he saw Professor Flitwick practicing making a stapler and a quill use Kung Fu. He looked up when Harry walked in, the quill knocking the stapler down with a roundabout kick that sprayed ink all over the desk.

"Sir...I...I have a question."

"Certainly," squeaked Flitwick, beaming. "Have a seat! Can I get you a cup of tea? I have Earl Off-white, Late Afternoon Thunder and Jazz Min."

"Err...No thanks."

"Well, do you want to know about that essay I assigned you on defogging charms?"

"No, I wanted to ask about my mum."

"Ah, I knew you'd find out some time. Come, do take a seat. If you don't want any tea, I'm going to have some."

"Fine, I'll try some Late Afternoon Thunder."

Professor Flitwick shook his wand at a kettle that was laying on his desk. The kettle immediately started to whistle and smoke, and Professor Flitwick poured two glasses of hot water before dropping in the teabags. He handed Harry the cup, which felt soothingly warm to Harry.

"Well," said Flitwick, taking a long draught of his own tea. "What did you want to know?"

"Was she a seer?" Harry asked immediately.

"You mean in the same way that Professor Trelawnery is?"

"No, like a real seer."  
"Haven't you heard enough of Trelawnery's prophecies to know that she _is_ a real seer?"

"Yes, yes! But I mean, could my mum make prophecies?"

"Sort of. There's more to it than that. You see, it wasn't her that was a seer. Her sister, who was a Squib otherwise, had one talent in magic, and that was telling prophecies."

"But my mum told you about Dumbledore's children and-"

"All in good time, young Harry. You see, your aunt, angry that her sister had inherited magical powers while she hadn't turned away from the magical world. But, inside her there were many prophecies she wanted to get out. As she grew older, the prophecies became more and more restless, but she refused to let them out."

"So how did my mum end up learning them?"

"Well, eventually the prophecies got fed up and moved out. They traveled all around the world looking for homes. However, they could only go to a relative of Petunia's."

"Hence my mum..."

"Got two of Petunia's prophecies, or at least was able to give two before she was murdered. The others escaped to other family members and were of little consequence. Only these two prophecies, and one of the ones who stayed behind are marked by the Ministry of Magic Department of Mysteries as even worth a recording. One of those prophecies, the one in your aunt, still hasn't been told, however, she knows it."

So that was why she had wanted the Drakhen so much this summer, thought Harry. She knows something about it that she still hasn't told.

"You mentioned that my mum told two of her prophecies. One of them was the one about Dumbledore's children. What was the other one?"

"Ah, that one I did not hear. The only person who heard that was your father, Harry."

"But what about the Ministry of Magic? Don't they have a record?"

"Well, at the end of last year, you and your friends had a slight tussle in that part of the Department of Mysteries, and the prophecy was lost before anyone heard it."

"Not even the Unspeakables heard it?"

"Harry, the only way to hear a recorded prophecy is to break its case."

"Then how do the Unspeakables study them?"

"That, Harry, I cannot answer. No one outside of the Ministry knows that."

"Right," said Harry finally, putting down his empty teacup which flew over to the sink at the back of the room and began to wash itself. "Thank...Thank you."

"Certainly. If you need something else, feel free to ask. But, just a small question, where'd you learn about Lily's prophecy?"

"I...I just overheard..."

"Harry, I believe it's for the best that you discovered the truth, but I am not Dumbledore and I cannot decide your fate. Do not tell Miss Thompson, whatever the case."

"I wasn't planning to," said Harry, grinning, as he walked out.

The first thing Harry did do, though was to write a letter Lupin about what he overheard. Hedwig was more than eager to finally get out of the Owlery, as Pigwidgeon had organized a small group of owls to rebel against the current hierarchy of owls, leading to almost constant fights. Then, Harry went to ask the next person he knew. He ran upstairs, grabbed the mirror Sirius had given him and called upon the Forgotten. Benny answered, his face quite hairy as it was nearly the full moon. He told Benny all about what he had heard and learned. An odd expression crossed Benny's face as Harry finished up. He didn't say anything.

"Do you know anything?"

"No...not really...except, you said you looked in the encyclopedia under 'A'?"

"Right..." said Harry, wondering what he was getting at.

"Well, I don't think you looked hard enough. Gabriel Ramore is a current prisoner of Azkaban."

"How do you know that?"

"Because..." said Benny slowly, "he was the mentor."

Harry stared into the mirror, his jaw sagging slightly. But there was more.

"Dumbledore's other daughter," began Benny hesitantly, "is Annette."


	15. Chapter 15: December Flurries

I still don't have my own computer yet (it's coming Monday), so this is sort of hard, but here's another badly edited, but hopefully semi-cool chapter. No action again, but since I'm not getting much feedback, I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing… but I hope you at least enjoy it a little bit. I'm also thinking on working on a couple of other fanfics (concurrently with this one, trust me, I'm not giving this up). Would anyone out there be interested in a Harry Potter/Dicworld crossover where Harry and Ron go to the Unseen University and Hermione goes up to Lancre to live with Nanny Ogg, Granny Weatherwax, et al? Or has it been done before? Anywayze, enough talk… well, not quite enough… 

Kaizer Knuckz (or however you spell it, I'm to lazy to cut-and-paste XD) – I will, XD.

Okay, here goes nothing (again). And I promise I'll fix the earlier chapters on Monday, but then school starts the next day, so don't expect as frequent updates as when the story first got rolling (as if you care…).

Chapter 15: December Flurries 

Snow fell, as it never had before, pouring forth from the sky in a surge of pearly-white snowflakes. Hogwarts students huddled inside by warm, glowing fires, dreading the trip across the grounds to Care of Magical Creatures or Herbology. Ron had impressed Harry and Hermione once more by expanding the bubble-head charm to encompass all three of their whole bodies in warm air, making trips across campus no worse than a summer stroll. Quidditch practice had actually been moved inside and now, besides moving stairways and trick steps, Hogwarts students now had to watch out for zooming Quidditch players wielding quaffles.

            In the past week, Harry had tried to contact Annette, but she and Moody were off on 'important business for the Order' (although Annette wasn't officially an Order member). Amber had been worse than ever, constantly starting fights in the dormitories. She attended detention nearly every night, and Gryffindor's glass bulb that recorded their house points looked much emptier than the others, as Amber had infuriated most of the teachers, but no real punishments had been exacted on her, making Harry assume that the teachers really did play favorites. Only Snape, however, showed her any genuine kindness, as she fully supported the Slytherin house.

            "So, Hermione" said Harry, as the three of them sat down for dinner after a particularly hard Defense Against the Dark Arts class where their zombie teacher had decided that fighting seven-headed Hydras counted as "hands-on learning". "Why haven't we heard much from you about spew this year?"

            "It's S.P.E.W.," corrected Hermione, "and I've been working on designing educational pamphlets on the state of house elves."

            "Seen Dobby lately?" asked Ron.

            "Yes. He's much happier now that Winky's better."

            "Winky's better?" asked Harry in surprise. Winky had been very sad and drinking a lot the previous year.

            "Yes, she got transferred to working with Filch, who keeps a heavy hand on her just like Mr. Crouch did. I, personally, think it's despicable how he treats her."

            "Well, she's happier because of it, isn't she?" said Harry.

            "Well, yes."

            "So what does she do?" asked Seamus sliding into place on the bench next to Ron. "Is she like Ms. Norris, patrolling the corridors?"

            "I think so."

            "She is!" said Ernie Macmillan, leaning over from the Hufflepuff table. "She caught me and Hannah in the halls after lights-out. And I heard Amber and the both Malfoys were caught underground and all got detention!"

            "Underground? Could they have been doing the same thing as when you followed them?" Ron asked Harry, lowering his voice.

            "You mean checking out that crypt place? Maybe… probably. But why would they want to do that again? I mean, they checked the coffin they wanted to, right?"

            "What if there's another coffin that has something they're after?"

            "Or something else… there were lots of passages down there."

            Hermione looked thoughtful.

            "Harry, where was the entrance to these caves?"

            "Go right from Snape's dungeon, then take the first left… Oy, Hermione, where are you going? Not now…"

            But their words were lost as she swept out of the Great Hall, leaving her half-finished plate of stew.

            "Hermione?" said Ron weakly.

            "Whoa, that's not like her to do something like that! She was telling us it was really dangerous and to forget about it before…"

            "Do you reckon we should follow her?"

            "Yeah, I guess so…"

            Taking one last sip of pumpkin juice each, Harry and Ron rushed out of the Great Hall after the shadow. However, Hermione did not head downwards, she went up towards the library.

            "Oh," said Ron as they entered.

            "We should've guessed," said Harry, grinning as Madam Prince's cry of "No running in the library!" followed them through shelves and shelves of books.

            When they eventually reached Hermione, panting, she was already immersed in Hogwarts: A History.

            "I thought you said it didn't matter before," said Harry, sitting down beside her.

            "Well, I just thought of something… look at this."

            She handed the book over.

            During the construction of Hogwarts, a number of passages were discovered below the school. None of them were explored fully, however, most led to crypts. However, there were also certain markings on the wall and the discovery of jewelry that suggested primitive human habitation. Some of the symbols were more arcane and suggested the presence of practitioners of the dark arts, including the Ja'Arci Triangle and the seven-pointed star. As certain explorers progressed deeper into the halls, many suffered strange deaths and still others disappeared, and a few returned so scared that they lost their memory. Due to this, investigations of the passages were discontinued, however, there were a number of sightings of strange shadows of human-like creatures. It is possible that some early humans still live down there.

            "Yeah…okay…so, this reveals a little more," said Harry. "But what were you rushing around for?"

            Smiling, Hermione pulled out another book entitled _Mythical and Rumored Magicks of the Dark Arts: Second Edition_. The cover was taken up almost entirely by a gruesome drawing of a demon with a mouth on its stomach as well as its head drenched in blood.

            "Where'd you find something like that? I didn't even know they had books like that here!"

            "Restricted section. You know, we're allowed to go there now that we're in the NEWT level."

            "Oh. So, what does it say?"

            She flipped it open to a page she had previously marked. The page was yellowed and spotted with ink and a dark red substance Harry was afraid was blood. The page was covered in a messy scrawl and patches of dirt. The top was labeled _Necromancy_ in what was clearly a failed attempt at a fancy scrawl.

            "Necromancy? Isn't that the magic of the dead?" asked Ron in a hushed voice.

            "Yup!"

            "What does this have to do with the underground caves?" asked Harry.

            "Read this…"

            'There are a number of symbols important to the art of necromancy', says the First Born of the Cult of the Spider, the only known practitioners of the art. 'The most important symbol to us is the seven-pointed star.' The power of the star is unknown, however many wizards assume that it is more than a simple symbol. It is etched in fire above the sacrificial altar in the in the temple of the Cult of the Spider. Other important symbols and markings are the legendary Ka'Rau Circle, Ja'Arci Triangle and the Yu'Mayas Rune. The latter two of these are used in other magicks, mostly involving the Dark Arts.

            "A seven-pointed star painted in fire…? Professor Artemis has one in his classroom!" (I know I said pentagram before, I'll fix it…)

            "It's probably keeping him alive… if he's a zombie, that is. What I'm more interested in is the Yu'Mayas rune! We studied that rune in Ancient Runes yesterday… the rune represents feelings of," – Hermione began to rattle off words as if they were in a list in her head – "hate, power, authority, death, massacre, killing, commanding, ruling, unjustness, pain, and trials."

            "Wow, that's a lot of feelings put into one rune… How do you know which one it is?"

            "Well, it's combined with other runes, Ron, you should really take Ancient Runes; you would like it a lot."

            "Well, anyway," said Harry, "this book says 'Mythical and Rumored' – I really doubt this is more than superstition. But what about this cult of the spider?"

            "Wait, the spider cult still doesn't exist, does it?" Ron asked Hermione.

            "I've never heard of it," said Hermione, "and all this is very speculative, but we might want to look into this."

            "You just tried to dissuade me from perusing the issue before!" Harry said, outraged.

            "Well, we didn't know about Amber being the daughter of Dumbledore."

            Ron looked frightened. Harry could guess why – Ron was terribly afraid of spiders, but from what he had read, spiders weren't part of the cult. Ever since the word "Necromancy" was mentioned, Harry had been amazed at just how white Ron's face could get. Harry was impressed by the range of colors Ron's face was able to produce.

            "Well, whatever the case," said Harry, watching the slow progress of blood in Ron's face, "we should get back to the common room, we have that Hydra essay to do."

            Just then they felt a gust of wind as two figures riding broomsticks sped over the bookshelves, neatly passing a quaffle back and forth, knocking into hanging lights, which swung wildly, sending a prism of shadows scampering across the floor.

            "Out! Out! Not in the library!" yelled Madam Prince, running after the figures that were pulling up to the table where Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting.

            "Yo," said Ernie Macmillan, landing next to the table.

            "Madam Hooch is going to have your head!" said Hannah Abbot, landing on the other side.

            "Yeah, practice started ten minutes ago…"

            "And Peeves wants to play too…"

            "So he was throwing quaffle-shaped water balloons…"

            "And Devin got soaked and dripped water all over the Ravenclaw common room…"

            "And Adrianne said she'd quit the team if it happens again…"

            "And then Crabbe and Goyle threatened to beat her up if she tried…"

            "So everyone's sort of mad," finished Ernie lamely.

            "Yeah," added Hannah to break the ensuing silence.

            "Let's go!" said Ron and Harry together, starting to run down the aisles.

            And between two bookshelves stood Madam Prince, a look of pure rage crossing her face. She made for them, wand out, screaming "THIS IS A LIBRARY!" Just as she was about to hit them, they grabbed onto the tails of the Hufflepuffs' brooms and were carried, flailing, over her shrieking head and sailing up towards the Gryffindor common room, dodging bludgers sent by Crabbe, Goyle and Peeves and moving staircases that seemed to be angry at the constant action inside the castle.

            Once they got on their own brooms, practice began as usual above the heads of cheering students and disgruntled teachers. The team was actually working well together. Focused on Quidditch, the nine players put away house rivalries and simply played. Harry could even tolerate Crabbe, Goyle and Devin during practice. He could really feel school solidarity, as everyone cheered on the school team. In practice, Harry's worries about Amber, his anger at Devin and his brother and his insecurities about Voldemort, about Dumbledore and about his upcoming mission all blew away, leaving him feeling fresh and ready to simply play Quidditch.

            After practice, Harry returned to the common room, flopping back, exhausted, on a beanbag Ron had conjured up in yet another unexpected show of aptitude. He had just begun to write about Hydras when he heard Amber's voice.

            "Hey, Harry."

            "Hi," said Harry shortly, not daring to look into Amber's face. He still had feelings for Amber, but wanted to remain true to her twin.

            "You know about my father, right?"

            "How'd you know I know?"

            "Oh, well… Just overheard it… You know…"

            Harry remained silent. Amber slid down so she was facing Harry directly, smiling up into his eyes, wisps of shining, brown hair blowing across her face. Harry couldn't stop himself from blushing.

            "Harry, stop writing that stupid essay and look at me," she said with a short giggle. Harry obeyed.

            "Harry, do you like me?"

            Boom. The question hit Harry like a gunshot, smashing his head to pieces, so he couldn't think. He didn't know, he was lost, confused… Why? Why did she have to ask him that? How could he say "no" to that face, that face so like her sister's, that face that Harry couldn't understand, couldn't comprehend what was behind it? That innocent, cute half-smile, alluring, alluding to so much more beneath the surface.

            "I…I…I don't…" Harry attempted.

            "You don't need to say," said Amber.

            And suddenly, terribly, beautifully, Amber was upon him, pushing him backwards into the beanbag as her lips forced themselves against Harry's and her body fell upon Harry's unyielding one.

            STOP! Think this over! What's wrong? Why is she doing this? NO! Get her off! Run! Hide! Annette! Annette! Think of Annette! Amber, she's just using you. Don' let her do this, fight back!

            "Tell me…" whispered Amber, removing her lips from Harry's. "Tell me where the Drakhen is…"

            She kissed Harry again. Harry couldn't think, couldn't resist, could only feel Amber's warmth, could smell only her hair, could see only blackness.

            "My room," said Harry softly.

            And Amber was upon Harry again, once again destroying any possibility of sane thought. Harry felt her arms close around him, pressing her breasts close to Harry…

            "Tell me where my sister is…" she whispered again, pulling back.

            "In London…Order of the Phoenix…"

            And it was all over. Harry's eyes were closed. He felt Amber recede from him, leaving only coldness, dread, fear and guilt. What had he done? But there was more.

            "Harry! Harry!" called Colin Creevy, running over. "I got a picture of you and Amber's first kiss!"

            Harry felt totally, completely, abysmally dead inside.

            Later that night, they had Astronomy with Professor Sinistra in the high Astronomy tower. NEWT level Astronomy consisted of much less staring through the telescopes and much more learning about how the stars influence magic. Tonight, they were learning about theories of magical means of space travel.

            "Although no witch or wizard has successfully left the Earth on their own," Professor Sinistra was saying, as she paced back and forth, "the Department of Mysteries owns a vehicle that can travel throughout space. Seventeen years ago, they revealed this vehicle, the Identified Flying Object, IFO for short, to the wizarding community at large. The IFO is a disc-shaped, spinning craft from which shines multicolored jets of magic that keep the vehicle afloat. Wizards from all over the world have traveled on the IFO throughout the solar system and beyond, locating traces of magic on other worlds. The IFO is currently visiting Pluto and will return towards the end of this school year…"

            "So," whispered Ron as Professor Sinistra droned on about the IFO, "What happened between you and Amber today?"

            "She…I told her about the Order," confessed Harry, "or at least as much as I could have, not being the secret-keeper. I told her where Annette was…"

            Harry was loath to mention the Drakhen and the prophecy for several reasons: he didn't want to drag Ron or Hermione into his problems, though he was sure they'd be more than happy to help or even accompany him to Azkaban, he didn't feel it was right to tell them anyway, it was his little secret, and he didn't want to admit to himself that later this very year he might be breaking into Azkaban and entering into Salazar Slytherin's tomb.

            "You shouldn't have…" said Ron.

            "Yeah, well you try having a hot girl on top of you and keeping your senses, huh?"

            Moodily, angry that _he_ was being blamed for something that he didn't mean to do, he turned back to listening to Professor Sinistra and copying down notes.

            _As the IFO is flying close to earth,_ wrote Harry, _it often creates unexplainable circles in crop fields…_

"Harry! Stop acting like that and tell me what she asked you about first!"

            "Listen, I don't want to talk about it!" Harry said, hearing his voice get louder. The classroom fell silent and Professor Sinistra looked over in Harry's direction. "Sorry," he mumbled and Professor Sinistra continued.

            "You've been hiding something from us all year!" whispered Hermione. "And we're your best friends."

            "Oh yeah? Well, you're not my only friends, are you," snarled Harry. "Just don't ask me about what's going on, okay?"

            "We're just trying to help!" said Ron, obviously taken aback.

            "Yeah, well you're not. Listen, there are some things that I don't want you guys to be dragged in to."

            "Like the visions you had about Sirius?" snapped Hermione.

            She had hit a nerve. Harry stood up, slammed his book shut and stormed out of the astronomy teacher, followed by the eyes of every student and the teacher.

            "Detention on Friday!" yelled Professor Sinistra after him. "And twenty points from Gryffindor!"

            Harry didn't care. All Harry wanted now was some rest, some peaceful sleep, and some time to be all alone and just think about everything that was happening so quickly. But that wish wasn't to be. As he arrived in his room, predictably, the Drakhen was already gone. But there was more. Lying on his bed, covered in blood, was the figure of Annette.

            Harry couldn't help himself. He was crying, screaming. In one night, everything had gone wrong. Why, what happened to Annette? Why did Ron and Hermione have to be that way to him? Why couldn't they just be his friends and understand? Why did his parents have to die, why did Cedric have to die, why did Sirius have to die, why did Macnair and those eight muggles have to die, why did Kevin have to die… why did there have to be death in this messed up world? And Annette… why now, why after her twin had used him, why after he had discovered who her father was, why, why why, why, WHY!?"

            "It doesn't have to be this way," said a mournful voice from above him. Abruptly, Harry turned around. Nearly Headless Nick was floating just behind Harry watching.

            "Nick? What are you doing here?"

            "Should I not be allowed to float peacefully around my own house?"

            "Well, yeah, I guess so, but into private dormitories…?"

            "She's not dead, you know," said Nick, ignoring Harry's last sentence.

            "What?"

            "She's not even there."

            Harry reached out to touch her. To his surprise, her body disappeared in a cloud of purple mist, and was replaced by a note.

            "H-how did you know about this? What's going on?" Harry asked Nick frantically.

            Nick simply smiled, his head wobbling uncertainly.

            Harry ripped off the seal and opened the parchment to read the note.

Five children who I believe are important to you, who call themselves "The Forgotten" are now in my possession. Return your Silver Drakhen to its rightful place, and they will be returned to you.

            Harry looked up, expectantly, at Nick.

            "I've been working for the Order," said Nick simply. "Well, more like watching Hogwarts. They wanted me to tell you it'll be all right. Moody, Tonks, Lupin and Shaklebolt are all on the case. Annette, at least, is very important… you heard about that destiny of hers, right?"

            "Who has her? Who has them?" asked Harry, panicking.

            "We don't know. Your job right now is to get that Drakhen back from Annette's sister."

            If anything could finish Harry's mixed-up feelings off for good, this was it. Harry lay back on his bed and cried. He heard the door opening, a brief flurry of activity, and then the lights were off again, and Harry was alone again.

            It must have been nearly four in the morning. Harry hadn't slept, but fallen into a state of half-wakefulness, no longer thinking or feeling, simply fighting to stay alive. The wind howled outside, and snow blasted more than ever against Harry's window. Harry doubted the blizzard would ebb away. And then, the door opened. Someone walked in. Harry didn't bother to look up and see who it was until he felt a vaguely familiar hand on his face.

            "It's okay, Harry… I know how you feel…"

            Harry rolled over and stared, jolted out of his suffering by the calming yet dreamy voice.

            "Luna? Luna Lovegood? How'd you get in here?"


	16. Chapter 16: The Worms on Christmas

Yo, greets to all my homies (or whatever)! Alright, reviewer responses… 

Believe – Thanks for reading! Be expecting a detailed review of Chapter 4 pretty soon.

Wiccakat13 – Wow, there really is no better compliment for a Harry Potter fic than that. Thank you so much!

Anywayze, here's the plan: I get my computer maybe tomorrow or the next day, at which point I fix up everything that's wrong with this fic, put in Harry's OWLs, etc. Then, there's school starting Tuesday which sucks. The fic will, at that point, cease being updated as often, but I'll still be writing it, don't worry. Okay, enough babble, here's this chapter BTW, the "DO NOT READ THIS STORY" ploy didn't work, nobody _did_ read the story, so it's back to its old name. And one other thing: Are soy sauce and maple syrup _supposed_ to go in the refrigerator? Best of wishes, -xy.

**Chapter 16: The Worms on Christmas**

            When Harry first saw Luna there, he wondered exactly how she got past the Fat Lady. Then, he wondered, what, exactly, she was doing there in the first place. Then, he wondered why he why he was wondering all this and not asking her.

            "Luna? Luna Lovegood? How'd you get in here?"

            In the pale light of the moon, she looked quite eerie, an ethereal figure that was not quite real and not quite ghostly. Her skin shone pure, opalescent white, her hair floated out behind her, despite the fact that there was no wind. She was dressed in a shimmering white robe that made her look almost angelic, and she looked somehow more focused, more _there_ than Harry had seen her before.

            "I know how you feel…" she said again. Her voice was the same, yet different.

            "No… You don't. You can't."  
            "Harry… Why are you so afraid of exposing your feelings to others? Why are you so afraid of opening up, being loved by others? Why are you so afraid of letting your feelings go?"

            "I…I don't…"

            "Was it because you didn't have parents to grow up with?"

            "I let my feelings go!" protested Harry.

            "No, you don't. Harry, you're closed. Even your best friends, even Ron and Hermione can't get into you. The only person you've ever opened up to was Sirius."

            "You don't know! You're not me!" Harry was almost shouting at this point, but his roommates took no notice. Luna placed her hand once again on Harry's face. It was cold, freezing.

            "You've never been loved by a woman, have you Harry? Cho was confused. Your mother has always been dead. Mrs. Weasley was never there for you; she's only kept the truth from you. Hermione is an advisor, an ally… but she's not a friend. Not a true friend, because you've never opened your heart to her."

            "What? What are you talking about? Hermione… I don't feel that way about her…" He trailed off.

            "You feel unloved, unwanted. Your heart is open. And it has been invaded by those who do not deserve it."

            "Amber?"

            "Annette."

            "Annette? She loves me! She said-"

            "Has it ever occurred to you that she might have said that for another reason?"

            "Why? She's not evil and manipulative, she's not like Amber, she-"

            "Do you really think she could love you after one day?"

            "Yes! She… she held my hand…Love…at first sight."

            "She gave you something no woman has ever given you before. She used you."

            "NO! Annette… I love her… She and I were… She was…"

            But Luna was fading away into the curtains, and in seconds she was gone. The night closed in on Harry, and Harry began to cry once again. Annette… Annette was real… He had to go save her… Return the Drakhen… Were they all just using him, manipulating him? Why did they all have to be this way? Annette really loved him, he knew that time she squeezed his hand… or was he so needy for affection that he had imagined it all? And then…

            "Harry! Wake up or you'll be late for class!"

            Light was streaming in through the half-open curtains on the side of his four-poster bed.

            "I was asleep? But it seemed so real?"

            "Man, you were crying, like, all night, dude. Do you feel better? Ron's really mad, he just left."

            "What?"

            "Man, you've really got to get a handle on your emotions."

            "Yeah, whatever, let's just go down to breakfast."

            "You missed it. Neville and I reckoned we should've let you sleep for a while longer."

            "Yeah, I guess that was a good idea. Damn, I feel tired."

            "Do you want me to bring you a cup of coffee while you get changed? We still have like twenty minutes until class."

            "Yeah, that'd be great, thanks."

            Seamus disappeared around the door, and Harry sat up on his bed. However, he did not immediately get up and get changed. He sat on his bed, watching an owl battle that had spilled outside, feathers flying to and fro, and wondered sleepily about what had happened the previous night. What he knew was that he had to talk to Luna. Was that real? Had Luna really come to his room in the middle of the night or was it just his dream? And, should he apologize to Ron and Hermione? He wasn't angry with them anymore, but would they ask questions, questions that would jeopardize what he would have to do at the end of the school year. He looked over at the place where the Drakhen had been the night before… Did Amber have it? Was she reporting to someone higher? If Amber was going to kill Dumbledore, why were the teachers still allowing her in the school? Why couldn't class just start about five hours later so he could sleep some more?

            "Harry, you're still not dressed?" Seamus asked hurriedly, running in with a steaming cup of black coffee. "Come on, we have McGonagall first thing, she'll kill us if we're late."

            Harry took a sip of the coffee and began to put his robes on, slowly, wondering exactly why he would have had such a strange, realistic dream.

            Harry continued to avoid Ron and Hermione for the next few days, which was probably a good thing, because both of them came down with The Worms. The Worms was one of the worst magical sicknesses one could get. It was a highly contagious disease that entailed having a worm inside your head. Occasionally, the worm would pop out of the mouth, either ear, or sometimes even the nostrils. It usually contained itself to the face, although there was a suspiciously worm-shaped hole in the back of Devin's robes as he left Madam Pomphrey's office. An epidemic was going around the school, and at all hours, one could see kids running out of class a worm flopping out of their ear. Ron's worm had decided that Ron's head was a great resort spot and could be seen hanging from his left nostril wearing a worm-sized Hawaiian shirt and sunglasses and sticking his tongue out rudely. Hermione's worm had taken to imitating different people. It would retract itself and then pop out of her mouth looking completely different. Harry was about to strangle the little beast when it popped out with messy, black hair, thick glasses and a tiny lightning-shaped scar, worming its way across Hermione's tongue.

            Harry and the other _well_ kids were eventually moved to two large, unused classrooms to sleep, and sleeping bags were conjured for them. As there were so few students that were okay, normal classes had been cancelled, and Professors Snape and Artemis, the only two well teachers took turns teaching all the students many things that they would not normally be learning. The days with Artemis were lots of fun, as he tried to teach them about many magical maladies including The Worms, Dragon Pox and many others. Snape's classes, however, were dreaded by everyone, even the Slytherins, where Snape was assigned the task of teaching them how to sing and dance to muggle songs from musicals. Harry had tears of laughter rolling out of his eyes when he saw Snape's face while he sang bitterly, "I feel pretty! So pretty! So pretty, and witty and gaaaaaaay!"

            Harry had been unable to contact Luna about his dream, because Luna was one of the first to come down with The Worms, and, upon getting better, caught The Horned Toads. He was still unable to talk to Annette about what Luna had said, but he heard from Benny and the rest of the gang that she and Moody were still away. He learned more and more about the plans for their impending trip up to Azkaban, and began to dread it more and more.

            Ron and Hermione got better on the same day and came back together. They looked over at Harry, who was tossing a quaffle back and forth with Adrianne, chatting about Quidditch. Harry looked over at them. Seeing him look, they stopped talking and watched him. He felt, momentarily, like telling them to piss off, but instead he walked over and tried desperately to prepare an apology.

            "Err…" Harry began.

            "Don't worry, we understand," Hermione said, and gave Harry a hug. Ron looked less inclined to forgive Harry, but reluctantly shook Harry's hand and then, suddenly, they both grinned.

            "So what've you been doing?" asked Ron.

            "Well, Snape's been dancing…"

            "WHAT!?" shouted Ron and Hermione together.

            "Yeah, he's going to do Kiss Me Kate tomorrow, so you'll be able to see him in action."

            "Hey, what are you doing for Christmas?" asked Ron.

            "I dunno…I think I'm going back to Grimmauld Place…everyone's there…but I think it might be too sad, Sirius being…" He trailed off as they looked at him concernedly.

            "Yeah, my whole family's meeting there, too," said Ron.

            "I'm coming too!" said Hermione. "Everyone will be there! Won't that be fantastic?"

            "Yeah," said Harry distantly.

            "Well, are you ready to tell us what you've been hiding from us all year?" Hermione asked hesitantly.

            Was he?, Harry wondered. He would have to reveal everything, the prophecy Dumbledore had told him at the end of the last year, his mission to Azkaban, the reason for Dumbledore's sickness…

            "Let's find a more private place," said Harry grimly.

            For over a minute the only sound in the room was the buzzing of a fly that was left over from summer. Both Ron and Hermione's faces looked strange, completely different from what Harry had expected. Neither wanted to be the one who talked first. Finally, Ron couldn't take the silence getting any thicker.

            "Cool," he said.

            It seemed so inadequate that both Harry and Ron burst out laughing. When they were finished, Hermione began to speak.

            "You're not going," she said flatly.

            "What, and let Dumbledore die?"

            When Hermione spoke next, she was definitely choosing her words slowly and carefully.

            "Harry, you've always been _there_. In our first year, you led us to save the stone. In our second year, you went down to the chamber to save Ginny… and the school. In our third year, you helped Sirius escape on Buckbeak. In our fourth year, you were part of the Triwizard Tournament, and even was there to see Voldemort revive. And last year, you led us to the Ministry and helped bring about Voldemort's discovery. Harry, you were always _there_. But, for once, can you realize it? It doesn't have to be _you_ that saves Dumbledore! Harry, last year, your impetuous nature led to… to that. For one year, can't you let someone else take over and play the hero?"

            Harry stared for a second at the fly as it settled on Ron's worm-eaten hair and then took off again.

            "No."

            It took some moments before Hermione's face registered the information and a few more moments before she formulated a response.

            "Why not?"

            "Because," sighed Harry heavily, "Because this time I have to be the one. Didn't you hear the prophecy? This time, I _am_ the only one."

            The fly zoomed over to a nearby table and landed on top of a poop-flavored one of Berry Bott's Every Flavor Jellybeans.

            "Harry," said Ron, "I'm not going to be like Hermione about this" – Hermione shot him a glance – "Just be careful. And for god's sake, tell us next time earlier on so we can help you!"

            Harry smiled. Ron smiled. Hermione attempted to control her face for a few seconds more, and then she smiled too.

            "So we're in this together?" Ron asked.

            "Yeah, always!" said Harry.

            Hermione's smile just broadened.

            "Okay, so what we need to do first is-" began Hermione, and then she abruptly broke off.

            "What happened?" Ron asked.

            "Shh! I hear footsteps… Someone's coming!"

            They listened closely. They could hear Snape's voice mumbling something and the shuffling steps of Professor Artemis behind him. Harry got up and peered around the door.

            "Come with me…follow…" Snape was whispering. There was an odd glow that seemed to radiate off the robed zombie.

            "Harry, Snape has Artemis under the Imperius curse!" whispered Hermione urgently.

             "Yeah, I can see as much," said Harry. "Where are they going?"

            They watched as Snape led Professor Artemis down the stairs to the dungeons.

            "I think they're going to the underground tunnels!"

            "Harry," whispered Ron urgently, "Where's your cloak?"

            "Upstairs, in my bag…"

            "What are you waiting for?" asked Hermione, literally pushing him out the door.

            "Talk about impetuous," muttered Harry as he ran as fast as his feet could carry him up to the Gryffindor tower. He threw his stuff aside in haste, grabbed the cloak and ran back downstairs faster than he had ever run before. All three of them huddled under, both Harry and Ron crouching down as they were both quite tall. Snape and Artemis were easy to find, as Artemis was moving much more slowly than usual under the curse. They were, indeed, walking towards the passageway Harry had gone down before that led to the underground caves and the crypt.

            They finally came to a halt at where the entrance was. Or, as Harry saw now, had been. The corridor ended in a dead end and there was nowhere to turn.

            "Open it…open it…" commanded Snape.

            Professor Artemis stepped forward and began to trace a pattern with his left hand. Amazingly, wherever his fingers moved, flames erupted on the wall. He drew a fiery seven-pointed star on the wall. He lowered his hand, dropped to his knees and placed his hands together as if in prayer.

            "Do it…" muttered Snape.

            Professor Artemis bowed his head. There was a moment of silence. Then he said, in a voice quite different from his normal voice, a whining, pleading voice not unlike the voice used by Peter Pettigrew, "Please grant us entrance, my brothers."

            The response was immediate and made all the hairs on Harry's body stand on end. Harry felt cold as he heard the voice, a powerful, deathly voice, not altogether evil nor good, echo from above.

            "Entrance shall not be granted to those who do not enter of their own will."

            "This didn't happen when Amber and the Malfoys came," whispered Harry.

            "Damn it," said Snape. He led Artemis away and Harry and his friends pressed themselves against the wall as he passed. When they were well out of earshot, Harry, Ron and Hermione returned their gaze to the wall. The fire still blazed.

            "I wonder," whispered Hermione.

            "What?" asked Harry, but Hermione was already leaving the cloak and dropped to her knees before the door. Harry and Ron, too, threw off the cloak.

            "She's not going to pray herself, is she?"

            But she was. She repeated Artemis's actions, bowing her head and praying.

            "We wish only to gain knowledge of what this place is," said Hermione, her voice wavering slightly.

            The echo from above came once more, and again Harry's goose bumps rose.

            "Allow me to speak to the Chosen One," commanded the voice.

            "I think it means you, Harry," Hermione whispered.

            Harry paused for a moment, and then, trembling to his very bones, walked over and fell before the fiery star, assuming the same position Hermione was in. The voice spoke once again.

            "Do you know of your destiny, boy?"

            "That I have to kill Voldemort or he has to kill me?" asked Harry. He thought he sounded rather sheepish against the booming, hollow voice that was addressing them.

            "No… Your destiny concerning the Cult of the Spider."

            "No," said Harry. He suddenly wished he could be somewhere, anywhere else.

            "You shall return in time," said the voice. "For now, leave."

            There was a note of finality. The flaming line faded, leaving no trace. Harry and Hermione stood, and the three of them looked at each other. They stood there for a moment and then finally turned and left.

            "So what do you think it meant about the destiny with the Cult of the Spider?" asked Hermione.

            "I don't know," Harry said thoughtfully, "one destiny is enough for me, and now I'm dealing with two?"

            "Whatever the case," said Ron, "there's three days until vacation, so let's take a break from all this!"

            Harry nodded and laughed.

            "Oh, Harry, there's something I forgot to tell you," said Hermione suddenly as they climbed the stairs back to the classroom.

            "Yeah, and what's that?"

            "Well, when I was sick, I got to do a bit of reading. My worm and I got quite friendly, it marked my place on the page to help me read."

            "Yeah, and?" asked Harry apprehensively.

            "Well, I was reading up on that Gabriel Ramore character."

            "Right…"

            "And, well, he wasn't put in Azkaban for killing someone."

            "Why was he put there, then?"

            "He was put there for trafficking illegal substances."

            "Oh, that's a bit better… although the way the Forgotten said it that night made it seem like it was Voldemort's fault. But what kind of substances was he dealing in?"

            "Amethyst Eyes."

            "So, what makes him so important? I mean, the teachers said it like he was someone famous…"

            "Well, he didn't just deal the stuff… He invented it."


	17. Chapter 17: Ronlius Weaslium

Arohk – Chapters 1, 2 and 3: Glad you enjoyed 'em. Chapter 4: Actually, that's the effect I had been going for I was watching a lot of Jackie Chan at the time. XD Sorry about the news thingy… There's actually a Burger King in Waterloo Station, if you've ever been there its right next to the underground entrance to Jubilee/Victoria, you can't miss it. Chapter 5: I explain Lucius Malfoy in this chapter, he's out. I added OWL results to this chapter, too. Overall, thanks, I'll look over the convos, etc. and do my best to clear it all up and fix it as best as possible… Thanks for the help, man.

write-me: Cool, thanks, but yours is better, it actually has some sort of story…

Kal Sirius – Cool.

Chapter 17: Ronlius Weaslium 

The first attack had happened. Voldemort had destroyed a building, killing 77 muggles. The building had been replaced by an ominous message that was written in purple fire at the site where the building had once stood:

THIS IS THE BEGINNING

The area had been closed off to all muggles as various wizards used charms to try to remove the words, but even Dumbledore was at a loss of how to put out the magical fire. Ministry defense squadrons were sent out by Lucius Malfoy (who was pardoned after the battle at the end of the previous school year by saying he was under the Imperius Curse, as were a great many of the Death Eaters that had been involved in the incident). They patrolled streets and attempted to discover Voldemort's plans, but were quite ineffective.

"What I don't get," growled Moody over breakfast on the first day of Christmas vacation, "is why he hasn't come out before now!"

Grimmauld Place, still being the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, had become crazy with activity. If Mrs. Black's portrait had still been up (when Sirius had died, she committed suicide, having lost the last direct line of the Black family, and was quite easy to remove), she would have been screaming day and night. Kingsley Shacklebolt was still out trying to discover where the Forgotten had been kidnapped to, but the rest of the Order, which had swelled immensely in size, were a constant threat to any type of rational conversation or sleep.

Even if Order members hadn't been coming and going literally every few minutes, their sleep would still be in jeopardy: Fred and George Weasley had joined the order. Fred and George, who took shifts running their shop Weasley's Wizard Wheezes in Diagon Alley and working for the order so they could have the shop open as much as possible, were excellent at artificiation. Artificiation was the creation of magical items of all types. Their skills extended beyond the joke shop, however, where their newest item, Blubbering Beeswax, was sold out in two days: they also helped create all sorts of items that helped the order keep track of it's members and Death Eaters (Warning: May Induce Turret's Syndrome), communicate easily ("Watch out," said Fred, grinning, as he presented what looked like a conch shell to Harry, "If you talk too loud, they have a tendency to spew out some nasty-smelling gas"), and a Swiss Army Knife that had lots of useful features, including the ability to grease any floor so that the first person who walks by slips. Other new additions to the order included Fleur Drecleur, Bill's new fiancée, who had a knack for making the male Death Eaters come quietly, and none other than the Professors Sprout, Flitwick, Hagrid, Artemis, Binns ("He…um…knows a lot of history," said Charlie unconvincingly) and Firenze (who could be heard, whenever he was around, complaining loudly about how "these foolish humans" had put his room on the second floor).

Harry, Ron and Hermione spent most of their days in the highest room, which Hermione had placed silencing charms around, saying little to one another. There was just so much to talk about that none of them wanted to even try to find out where to begin.

"Dinner's ready," said Mrs. Weasley, opening the door followed by a cacophony of sound from below – Fred and George were playing Seamus' drum set, which was excellent except for the unfortunate fact that neither knew how to play the drums.

"Thanks," said Ron, getting up.

"So," ventured Harry timidly, "Why do you think Snape wanted to get into the catacombs so much?"

"I don't know… I thought he wasn't a Death Eater anymore…" said Hermione.

"Yeah, well he was using the Imperius curse on Professor Artemis, so…"

"You're right, that's strange. I doubt it was on work from the order… after all Professor Artemis himself is in the Order."

"Well, we've always suspected Snape," said Hermione, "I mean, in our first year we thought he was trying to steal the stone."

"Yeah, but this time he was using an Unforgivable Curse."

"You're right, we should tell someone," agreed Hermione.

"But how does Professor Artemis know how to get in there anyway?" wondered Ron. "And why was it open when Harry went down with Amber and the Malfoy twins?"

"I think-"

And then all three of them stopped dead. They had just entered the dining room. Sitting at the dining room table was someone Harry was someone nobody expected to see there.

"Hey," said Amber, her voice dripping with fake cheerfulness.

"What are _you_ doing here?" snarled Hermione.

"I should ask the same of you."

"I'm friends with the Weasleys and Harry."

"So what? Oh, I see little Ronnie-poo and Harry-berry are blushing. Ooh, do I embarrass you?"

_That mock baby voice sounds exactly like Bellatrix Lestrange_, thought Harry sourly.

"Shut up!" said Harry coolly.

"Oh, you're going to do something bad to me? Ooh, I'm so scared."

Harry remembered: it was the same voice Bellatrix had been using after she had killed Sirius. That mocking, goading sound…

"Don't do anything, Harry, this is my fight," Harry heard Hermione warning him distantly. It didn't matter. Harry could see the stretched, mocking face of Sirius' cousin on Amber's young, innocent face. Harry grabbed his wand and roughly pushed Ron and Hermione aside.

"Don't talk that way," said Harry dangerously.

"Ooh, Harry's mad."

Last time… last time Harry's Cructiaus curse hadn't worked, because he didn't truly want to cause pain. But this time… this time he did. This time, all his hatred was being siphoned into the tip of his wand.

"Stop," said a deathly silent voice.

Harry hovered, ready to cast the curse, but did not do so. Amber looked at him with a mocking smile.

"What's happening?" asked Lupin.

Behind him, stood four people Harry hadn't been happier to see: Benny, Zack, Amy and Sarah. Annette was missing.

"Harry, lowered your wand," barked Lupin.

Harry didn't respond in any way. Gall was rising in him and he had a rushing, powerful feeling he couldn't describe. Remus Lupin, the last member of the gang his father had been in… James was dead, Sirius was dead and Peter had betrayed them all. Would he let Lupin stop him? Lupin was the last living connection he had, the last person who could be a parent.

"Miss Dumbledore, kindly step aside," said Lupin.

"He saved your neck," Amber whispered fiercely as she stepped aside.

Harry finally lowered his wand, looking down. The hatred that had risen so strongly in him ebbed away. Why had he felt such a powerful feeling – he would have killed Amber if he had the chance. Was he no better than Wormtail or Voldemort?

There was silence in the kitchen for a moment. Well, not exactly silence as Fred had added random screaming to George's pitiful attempt at a jungle beat, but the tension in the room was thick enough to cut through. Finally, Lupin clapped his hands as if nothing had happened and bade them all to sit.

"Amber, why are you being this way?" asked Hermione, who was on the verge of crying.

"Because I can be. Because it's fun."

They stopped talking for a moment.

"Where's my Drakhen?" demanded Harry, using every muscle in his body to keep his cool.

"I have it in my care."

"Some of the top-ranking members of the Order are sitting right over there," Ron reminded her.

"I can see perfectly well, thank you."

"And you admit you stole it from Harry in front of them?"

"Yes, Professor McGonagall thought it might be safer in my care."

Harry looked over to Lupin who frowned as if he disagreed, but nodded.

"Where's Annette?"

"Well, she was captured on our mission…" began Lupin.

"I got a note that all five of you had been kidnapped."

"Nope, just Annette. We've sent people out after her… but…"

"My sister doesn't belong here," Amber said coldly.

"Miss Dumbledore, what have I warned you about?" asked Lupin dangerously.

Amber shut up for some time.

"You didn't answer my first question," said Hermione tonelessly, catching a brussel sprout that had been alluding her fork for two minutes and had finally taken refuge in Ginny's coffee.

"You mean what am I doing here? I happen to be the daughter of the founder of the order."

"And the one who is fated to kill him."

"First, the prophecy said _could_ kill. And, secondly, I happen to have inherited certain skills from him that…others…do not have."

At this point, Amy and Zack stood up together, snarling.

"Why do you always need to be making digs at her, huh? What's she ever done to you?"

Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at each other, mystified. Obviously, she was talking about Annette, but what skills did Amber have that Annette couldn't… Annette could focus, and seemed to be considerably better at magic than Amber.

After that, the rest of the vacation was, more or less, awful. Amber made sure every mealtime was darkened by her presence and nasty remarks, and she took it upon herself to make sure everyone, especially Hermione, hated every minute they spent with her. Christmas Eve was worse than ever, as Hermione had eaten a cursed biscuit, and Amber denied having caused the green bumps that now covered her entire body.

Green bumps aside, however, even Amber couldn't ruin Christmas morning when Harry woke up to a pile of glittering presents. Mrs. Weasley gave her usual present of a sweater and food, Moody had given him a Enemy Eye, a marble that would change colors depending on how much danger you were in at the time, The Forgotten had given him a set of Gibbering Glassware that had smashed itself by the time Harry had finished unwrapping it, Ron and Hermione had given him a box of Honeydukes' chocolates and (to Harry's horror) some cockroach clusters, and Fred and George had given him Viscera Viagra. His most interesting present, however, was a letter from Mr. Bones, a probate lawyer, informing him that he had inherited a small fortune from his godfather and requesting his presence in Hogsmeade before his return to school.

The day before the end of break, Amber left early to go see her father in St. Mungo's, and Harry, Ron and Hermione sat in a park in London and sipped slowly on butterbeer. The sun was shining brightly, but clouds were creeping steadily towards it.

"So," Harry said, throwing a handful of crumbs from Ron's Cauldron Cake to some nearby pigeons, "what's Amber's problem, anyway?"

"I dunno…" Ron grunted.

"Well," Hermione said matter-of-factly, "I think she's jealous of me."

"Uh… Hermione…well, maybe…but she's mad at me as well."

"Well, she's jealous of you, too!"

For once, Harry thought Hermione might've been wrong. Just then, a cloud began to overshadow the sun.

"Now it's going to be freezing…" Hermione complained sourly.

"Or maybe not," Ron said with a broad smile and going particularly red in the face, "I've been wanting to try this for a while."

"What?" asked Harry, as Ron withdrew his wand and checked for muggles.

"Well, I was doing a bit of research…" Ron said, turning burgundy.

Ron pointed his wand directly at the cloud, and going one shade darker of red, said, "RONLIUS WEASLIUM!"

There was a pause, where Harry and Hermione tried to hide their laughter. And then a pillar of blue light extended upwards from Ron's wand and hit the cloud. Blue magic spread throughout the cloud, and they were drenched once again in sunlight. Harry's mouth dropped open, and Hermione's knees buckled, and she fell back to the bench.

"Did you create that spell?" asked Harry, awed.

"Well, sort of. I started off with a defogging charm and tried using it at long range, but it didn't work, so I…um…tweaked it a little bit."

Ron? Ron, of all people, the man who had gotten only one more OWL than his brothers Fred and George, who had been completely clueless about everything for five and a half years, had just created a spell. His jaw still refusing to rise, Harry pointed his own wand up at a different cloud.

"RONLIUS WEASLIUM!" yelled Harry.

Sure enough, he blasted the cloud out of the sky. Ron's spell had become part of magic.

"Hermione, are you okay?" asked Ron, looking over.

Hermione tried twice to speak and eventually ended by simply nodding.

Still awed at Ron's new spell, Harry called the Knight Bus and left to go to his conference with Mr. Bones. When Harry arrived, Hogsmeade was grayed over and snowy.

"RONLIUS WEASLIUM!" Harry said with a smile. The entire sky turned blue and the last few snowflakes settled on the ground. With a huge grin, he made his way to Mr. Bones' office.

"Harry! Welcome!" said Mr. Bones with a big smile as Harry kicked off his boots. He was a tall, skinny, bony man with a thick mustache, and looked nothing like his daughter, Susan. He was dressed in smart-looking black robes but wore a red muggle tie over them, which looked rather strange to Harry. He shook Harry's hand heartily, and bade Harry to sit.

"Can I get you anything? Tea?" Mr. Bones asked eagerly.

"No, thanks."

"Well, shall we get down to business then?"

He disappeared through a door on the left of the room and returned with a thin, blank envelope.

"This is your godfather's will," said Mr. Bones. "He attached a note saying that he wanted you to be the person to open it."

Harry stared at the envelope apprehensively. School had distracted Harry from Sirius, and even Grimmauld Place seemed more welcoming to Harry, but was he ready to face Sirius' last wishes. Slightly hesitantly, Harry picked up the envelope. He opened it slowly. Inside was a single, thin piece of parchment, folded.

"Well, go on, open it," said Mr. Bones, smiling.

His hand shaking slightly, Harry opened the letter. And his mouth dropped open on what was inside.

"What is it?"

Harry dropped the letter and collapsed faster than Hermione had after seeing Ron's new spell. Was what he just read true? Mr. Bones read it over, and was no longer smiling. Harry reached out for the letter again, and read the words he saw over and over, but still they didn't change. Harry repeated them to himself in a whisper:

            "I'm not dead."


	18. Chapter 18: Into the Genie's Lamp

write-me - Chapter 7: Actually, it was Harry and Draco fighting… Draco walked up behind them. Chapter 17: He'll be back… not just yet, but wait.

Believe – Thanks. Don't worry, he'll be back at the end.

Chantal – Thanks a lot! Hey, you wrote an anonymous review, so I don't know which story is yours.

Okay, the next chapter is going to be extra-long and filled with Quidditch, so if you didn't like Chapter 12, you probably won't like this one… Sorry, it's just fun to write about! But don't worry, Sirius will be back in no time at all (you'll see!) and the plot will be moving right along… Hey, what does everyone think of my HP/Discworld idea?  I have another fanfic up now, but this one is much more important, so I'll be working on this a lot more! Okay, time for me to shut up and get on with the story! Best of wishes, -xy.

**Chapter 18: Into the Genie's Lamp**

            The thought that Sirius was back sustained Harry for the next two months. The first thing he did was to send Hedwig out for him, however he privately doubted she'd find him – Hedwig had never failed to make a delivery before, but Harry suspected that he wasn't altogether in this world. Predictably, Ron and most of the order were more than ecstatic to hear, however both Moody and Hermione were more than a bit worried.

            "That letter came a little late…" warned Hermione. "What if…you know…someone is trying to get you to…well, remember last time you tried to save him?"

            Harry couldn't believe his ears.

            "Hermione, why, right now, just after I got the letter, did you have to bring that up, huh?"

            Hermione pursed her lips, but said nothing more.

            The attack had more than affected most of the school, which was now, as a whole, in a state of panic. Many Gryffindors had been coming up to Harry begging him to restart the DA, but with Professor Artemis's newest classes, Harry decided he didn't need to. Being an undead himself (which he had finally publicly announced – to the abject horror of most of the school – by slowly lowering his hood to show a rotting, yellow-green face with one eye hanging lazily out of his socket and teeth that could impress even some of the most British students at the school), he knew more than a fair share about fighting ghouls, poltergeists (Peeves was quite reluctant to help, and far more unhappy when he discovered that within days half the students in the school knew how to freeze him in midair just as he was about to do some of his nastiest pranks yet), skeletons and (most horrifying of all) great, hulking, demons, with three-pronged tails swinging menacingly behind them and foot-long fangs protruding disgustingly from their cavernous mouths, oozing purple-black goo. Voldemort's threat that it was "only the beginning" was not idle either – mysterious disappearances and murders had even shocked the muggle police, and pictures of "a terrorist far more dangerous than Osama bin Laden" had appeared throughout the muggle world, and, upon seeing the first one, Harry had a vision of Uncle Vernon aiming his rifle at a towering Lord Voldemort, and couldn't really picture it being much help. Still, Hermione had said, any sightings of him could be more than useful to the Order that was now attempting to do damage control, altering the memories of muggles and magically repairing damaged property.

            Remembering Luna's mysterious appearance at night, Harry tried desperately to find her and was able to corner her after a difficult Quidditch practice which would have been inside but for Ron's new spell (which Harry was less than happy with Ron for inventing, as it was quite a bit colder out there even if there wasn't any snow).

            "Luna! Hey, Luna!" Harry yelled through a thinning throng of Ravenclaws, casting aside his heavy Quidditch robes.

            "Hi, Harry," she said dreamily drifting lazily over.

Upon seeing her, Harry jumped up and suppressed a scream. It looked as if there was a large, bright-red, lobster climbing about halfway up Luna's waist-length, straggly, hair. Then, seeing as it was clicking its tail in frustration and occasionally shifting around, but not fully moving, Harry realized that she was using it to clip her hair together. Harry couldn't keep from privately smiling – there was something about Luna that Harry just couldn't describe, that made her somehow special to Harry.

            Harry didn't know exactly how to phrase his question. If what he had seen had just been a dream, asking her straight out if she had been in Harry's room was just plain weird. And what had happened, mused Harry, wasn't exactly typical of Luna – well, Harry could see her wandering into the room accidentally, but she had seemed somehow more focused, together than usual.

            Finally, Harry said, "What kind of night robe do you have, Luna?" quite foolishly. He realized at once that it was probably the weirdest thing of all that he could say, and, if Luna had been any other girl, probably completely improper as well. Luna didn't seem to notice, or, if she did, care.

            "A white one. My roommates hate it because it's really shiny at night. So is that."

            Alarmed, Harry turned around to see where she had suddenly pointed, but it as no more than a glittering snitch that had escaped during practice a few days earlier and was now playfully bothering some second-years who were sending freezing and stunning charms in all directions.

            "Yeah…" said Harry, trying to regain his train of thought. Then something clicked. "Is it really shiny white?"

            "Yes," Luna said distractedly, trying to control the lobster which had just taken a large bite out of the back of her robe and was chewing it loudly.

            "Um… do you know the password into the Gryffindor tower?"

            "Pixius Pixipestrum."

            Harry's mouth sagged. It really _was_ her in the room that night. How had she known all that about how Harry was feeling? How did she even know that Annette and the order existed?

            "How'd you find out?" asked Harry dumbly.

            "Oh, I learned Legilamancy. The password to Hufflepuff is 'Pink Elephant' and the password to Slytherin was changed to 'Good Times' after the attack."

            So that's how she knew so much about him then! She was a mind-reader! But the question that was now buzzing around Harry's mind, as he watched the lobster's antennules lick the exposed part of Luna's back, was _why_. Why did Luna do that?

            "Why did you do that?"

            "Oh, just for fun. I checked out all the common rooms. Yours is nice, but Hufflepuff has floating clouds you can sit on. You should try them; they're really fluffy and nice until someone throws you out."

            "No, I mean why did you come to my room in the middle of the night?"

            "Oh, because Lavender, who was sleeping down there, woke up and your room was the closest. I had to hide, you know."

            "And you started reading my mind and talking to me about private matters!?" sputtered Harry, outraged.

            Luna looked quite surprised. But then, thought Harry, she always looked quite surprised.

            "I didn't talk to you."

            So it wasn't her? Did that really happen? Was it all a dream?

            "I saw you, you told me I didn't feel loved and…"

            Harry broke off. Luna was looking more confused than ever, which was quite a feat for her.

            "You were talking about green beans. I had a great conversation with you, but it was a bit one-sided… you didn't say too much after that. Of course, Neville was snoring pretty loud, and you were talking into your pillow, so maybe I just didn't hear you."

            "W…what night was this?"

            "Last night… I thought you saw me, how else did you know I was in there?"

            "Did you ever go in there before?"

            "What, into your room? Oh, yeah, I did about two weeks before Christmas."

            So she had been in there. Harry's mind was spinning – it was all so confusing.

            "And you talked to me about being unloved and stuff?"

            "No, I talked to Seamus. You were talking to yourself about being unloved. Well, you said 'Love at first sight' once, but…"

            So she _had_ been in there, but hadn't talked to him…his brain must have just put her in his dream because she was nearby…but he had had other, less important dreams about Luna after that one, even over break, where he doubted Luna had been there…

            "Were those the only two times you went there?"

            "Yes. I can go again if you want me to."

            "No," Harry said, laughing, "that's perfectly alright."

            "Oh, okay…"

            Harry was suddenly embarrassed. The dream had scared him, and though he still loved Amber with all his heart, there was part of his head that said that what the dream said might have been true…and then there was Sirius…was he alive…and then there was the fact that he was talking to someone who had a red tail flicking back and forth in back of her…but she had been so brutally honest, so…so…so open with Harry…why…Luna was a weirdo, but that _something_ about her was bothering Harry again…

            "Well, I'll…uh…see you around," said Harry dumbly.

            "Oh, okay."

            Harry had never really thought Luna capable of lying. There was something _honest_ about her. However, as he watched her ship away, lobster hanging on for dear life, Harry wondered if it had been her talking to him. The dream just seemed so real, and she had admitted being in the room on that night. Harry had half a mind to call out to her, but the other half won out and all he did was raise his arm, reaching confusedly out for her.

            The final Quidditch practice before the tournament happened on the second Thursday night in February. Harry collapsed into bed alongside his Firebolt (which simply didn't have the will or energy to resist anymore, and realized the need of practicing before the game) that night at around 10 o'clock, and could faintly hear Ron doing the same beside him. However, he didn't get to sleep for a while. The next morning at 5:30 he would be off to Switzerland to compete with other teenage witches and wizards from all over the world. He tried to put everything out of his mind: Amber, Annette, (Professor) Artemis, Azkaban, the Cult of the Spider, the Death Eaters, the Drakhen, Dumbledore, the Forgotten, Hermione, the Malfoy twins, Luna, Lupin, the Order of the Phoenix, the Prophecies (there were so many of them these days, Harry didn't know where to start), the (upcoming) Quidditch match, Ron, Sirius, Snape and Voldemort. The only one he failed entirely with was the um… fifth-to-latter of them. All he could think about was going out there in front of witches and wizards throughout the world and doing what he did best: playing Quidditch. Then he remembered when Sirius had come and watched that one game of Quidditch, and the third-to-last on his last was back in his mind. Within ten minutes, he wondered what the purpose of clearing his mind in the first place was, if it all just came back – which only added one more thing on top of the pile of others to his worries.

            When he awoke the next morning, however, he was far from tired. He was so nervous he would have given the world for a bit of Valium. As it was, he was completely unable to eat, and, looking at the other members of the team who were dining with them (the entire team had woken up so early, no one else was eating, so Madam Hooch had sent the house tables aside and conjured a table just for the ten of them) were having much success either. Ron had gone quiet and looked worse than he did before his first Quidditch match. Ginny was doing only marginally better. Adrianne and Hannah were taking turns saying "It'll be alright" without any conviction. Crabbe and Goyle were making more grunting sounds than usual, but were talking just as little. Ernie Macmillan spent five minutes chewing on his fork and staring at his watch before Madam Hooch took pity on him, and it was quite good timing because just as he sat the fork down, it snapped. Madam Hooch herself, however, wasn't looking too good, and although it may have been sleepiness (on any other day, Harry couldn't bear the thought of being up at 5:20), she wasn't yawning. Devin Malfoy was the only one talking, occasionally telling everyone how good he was and how, with them on their team, they would win for sure – he had some new moves, he said.

            Once everyone had spent long enough staring at their uneaten food, Madam Hooch clapped her hands and all the food disappeared from the plates.

            "Well, shall we be going then?" she asked.

            "How are we getting there?" asked Malfoy, who was apparently a member of the Talking Defeats Nerves School of Calming Down.

            Madam Hooch led them away from their food which had just faded from their plates and into an unused classroom on the first floor that was old, dusty and smelled heavily of mold. Harry doubted if the house elves ever cleaned in here and then doubted if Hermione would like to hear that very much. The classroom was pretty empty, and only had one table which twenty chairs had been grouped around. On the center of the table was the only thing in the room that, when Madam Hooch waved her wand and the torch-lined walls erupted in flame, _gleamed_. Harry shielded his eyes – the thing was brighter than Luna's night robe! It was shaped like a large oil lamp.

            "What's that thing?" inquired Malfoy more loudly than before.

            "It's a genie," explained Madam Hooch, more quietly than before. "It's one of the most effective ways of mass transportation."

            "How about portkeys?"

            "Well, portkeys work, yes. But genies are classier, so they give them to the teams. There is one central genie at the stadium and each of the schools is given one genie of their own. Each genie can be used three times, so it'll be used once for the team, once for spectators, and once to get us all back here."

            "How will spectators not from the schools get in there?"

            "Well, they'll be taking portkeys, of course."

            There was silence for a moment. Then, seeing as there were no more questions, Madam Hooch walked over and rubbed the silver lamp. For a second, Harry couldn't sense anything. Then, Harry felt the prickle of wind on his skin. He began to see the dust around the room slowly trickling toward the lamp. Within seconds, the winds had picked up and it was all Harry could do to keep his footing and a tight hold on his broomstick. A tornado was rising, centered at the tip of the lamp. The wind began to turn blue, and Harry fleetingly wondered if it was the dust, before watching the tornado condense to just above the spout of the lamp. Then, Harry watched as, miraculously, a blue-skinned man about the size of Hagrid erupted from the top of the tornado. He was bald, but had two gigantic, golden earrings in his ears, a nose long enough to impress a goblin, sharp, pointed teeth on his harp, pointed face, and a malicious-looking grin. His body stopped rising halfway up his chest.

            "It's five thirty in the morning," he said in a voice that sounded like…like…like Snape if he was ever happy. "Now, why must you mortal fools awake me from my eternal sleep?"

            "If I was sleeping eternally," said Malfoy boldly, "I'd be happy to wake up."

            The genie's smile sweetened horribly at this.

            "We wish to be sent to the other end," said Madam Hooch, bowing her head.

            "Ah, so you're the Hogwarts Quidditch team, I suspect…hmmm…" He gave them each a piercing gaze in turn before returning his yes to Madam Hooch. "Well, not as impressive as the Daumstrung or Korean School of Wizardry's teams, but you certainly look like more than any of the Australian teams… I wish you luck."

            He gave sort of a strange, almost sarcastic bow, as if he would rather be doing anything but this and sank into the tornado again. The blue light faded from the tornado, and, as Harry watched in amazement, the tornado expanded. This time, Harry couldn't resist. Keeping a tight hold of his Firebolt, he went spinning in along with the rest of the team, getting smaller and smaller as he approached the tip of the lamp. He flew head-first into it, watching the musty room disappear, as the little of the breakfast he was able to eat came rising (falling?) into his mouth. He spun in complete darkness for a few seconds and then flew right-side-up out of a much larger, golden, lamp inside a large, completely empty, stone room.

            Once the team had all crashed unceremoniously to the ground and did their best to collect themselves, Madam Hooch led them out of the room and into hazy, early-morning sunlight.

            She led them through a courtyard. Looking around, Harry saw a strange collection of buildings. Behind them was a large stone keep with the words "ENTRANCE HALL" floating in the air above it. Nearby were a windmill and a stone château overlooking a large field that was dotted with quintessential middle ages huts. Up the hill was what looked like a gigantic resort hotel taken right out of Florida. It was at least fifty stories and was surrounded by palm trees. Harry could see a gigantic pool and spa. Next to that was the exact same stadium that had been used for the Quidditch World Cup, complete with gigantic wood walls and the magical scoreboard. If there were any three sets of buildings that didn't go together it was these three. To top it all off, many of the hotel room balconies were dotted with obvious signs of wizardry – thousands of multicolored birds flew around one room, and a tree was growing sideways out of another.

            Madam Hooch led them into the hotel, which, upon seeing the title Holliday Inn, Harry became completely sure that it had been barrowed for the occasion, and up to the desk where they checked in and were given rooms – three to a room, with Madam Hooch getting her own master suite. The three girls bunked up together, and Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle set off up their room.

            "Well, I guess I'm stuck with you two," Harry said, grinning at Ernie Macmillan and Ron.

            Their room had a nice view of the beach (which Harry hadn't seen from outside), and was quite large with three beds and its own bathroom and kitchen. Room service, a pair of American muggle maids that had the dazed look of recent memory modification, brought them some food.

            "Well, this ain't too bad."

            They slept until 11:30, when they got up, had a silent lunch (well, tried, even Malfoy was unable to eat at this point, he confident air was more than gone) and prepared for their 1:30 game against their first competitor, the Omungabunga School, located in the Amazon. When Harry returned to his room, he saw his Firebolt dart back in the window and hang both eagerly and nervously next to him. It mirrored what Harry was felling, as he picked it up and went back to the elevator.

            Madam Hooch, Ron and Ernie couldn't go with him, so Harry joined the rest of the team in the lobby. They were ushered by a bored-looking wizard in purple robes into the changing rooms at their side of the stadium. The entire room was marble with gold lockers and colored sparkles floating above them. Seven showers were each 15' x 15' with beaded curtains that Harry assumed had an Impervius charm to ward off water. Pink bubbles flitted around the inside of the marble showers like fairies and rainbow-tinted water dripped from the shower heads. Ten-inch thick 10' x 10' towels that Harry could picture himself rolling around in hung from gigantic wooden racks along the walls. The room was luxurious, but Harry couldn't enjoy the full effect through his anxiety.

            Seven black robes that had a gigantic Hogwarts crest on the back hung from golden hangers on the opposite side from the showers. Silently, the whole team pulled them on, and joined moments before the match near the big oak doors which would open, signaling their time

            "Are you ready?" asked Hannah hoarsely, giving a weak smile at the other eight.            _We're here,_ thought Harry. _We're here, we're just about to fly out that door where thousands of witches and wizards will be watching and applauding our first match. If we win this, there will be another. And another. And another. And then, after three more qualifications match, if we win, we'll be flying out to millions of wizards._

Malfoy yelled, "Yeah!"

            If_ we win… I shouldn't think that way. It's not _if_ we win, but _when_ we win. After all, look at us. We're some of the best teenage Quidditch players in the world. We'll win for sure, I just know it._

Crabbe and Goyle gave simultaneous grunts of assent.

            _This is it, and this is my moment. I'm the best seeker Hogwarts has had since my father, right? This is my moment to prove myself, to fly out there and catch that snitch in ten seconds, to show that applauding crowd out there that I'm the best there is._

Adrianne smiled.

            _No, this is _our_ moment. We're a team and together we can do this. Every one of us is going to jump onto our broomstick and fly out there, waving to the crowd and playing Quidditch. Because it's a game. It's just a game, and we're here to play and have fun._

Ginny swallowed and nodded.

            _We can do this. Because, looking at these people here, I know that it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if we look stupid in front of all those people out there or if we win, or we lose. All that matter is that we play this game and we play our best. Nothing can stop us now, we can do it. They can do it. I can do it. We can go out there and play this game._

Harry mounted his broom and watched the oak door slowly open.


	19. Chapter 19: Switzerland

**Chapter 19: ****Switzerland**

            "From the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in Hogsmeade, England, please welcome…Johnson…Crabbe…Goyle…Abbot…Weasley…Malfoy and…POTTER!!!"

            The roar of the crowd was deafening, but Harry could not hear it. He couldn't hear anything, and can only see a blur of colors and movements. He was ready, filtering out the crowd, the ground, the people, everyone…

            "And, from La Esquela de Omungabunga en Bolivia, we have…Manuel…Sanchez…Mariano…Simones…Campo…Ferre and…GOMEZ!!!"

            This time, the roar pierced through Harry's heightened Quidditch-playing senses. There were far more Bolivian supporters in the crowd, a sea of red, yellow and green supporters.

            "Lucky us to get pitted against the second-highest rated Junior Quidditch team in our first ever match!" yelled Malfoy as he sped away.

            Harry looked over at the other team. Leading the pack were Simones, Campo and Ferre, all three small but muscular-looking girls with wildly long hair flying randomly about behind them. Their beaters, Sanchez and Mariano were actually the two smallest players on the team, a fact which surprised Harry immensely; however their small size would allow them to get around quickly. Harry's first impression of their keeper, Manuel was that he was a show-off. He was doing loops in the air, and with each loop, a wave of olive-skinned supporters would rise in shouts of glee. Harry's greatest fear, however, was their seeker, Gomez. She shot straight out, faster than Harry had seen anyone go on any broom, right over to the Hogwarts side, zipped around Harry worryingly, unseating him and flew straight up into the sky. Harry, looking up, was completely blinded by the sunlight. Blinking it out of his eyes, Miss Gomez was nowhere to be seen.

            Before Harry realized it, the referee had opened the box, tossed the quaffle into the air, which was caught in an impressive dive by Ginny, and released the snitch. The new strategy that Madam Hooch had come up with for the game was for Harry, as seeker, to do both the job of seeking out the elusive snitch that was fluttering around randomly and to play in the game as well, taking hits if the beaters weren't around (there was so _much_ of Crabbe and Goyle, that didn't often happen) and throwing off opposing chasers to give Adrianne time to get to whatever goal post was being attacked at any given time. However, the snitch being the most important piece in the game, Harry was making sure to keep one eye out for it.

            Ginny made off to the other end of the pitch with the quaffle, diving and weaving under the bludgers which were being hit back and forth by Sanchez and Mariano, who were indeed fast. Crabbe and Goyle clutched their Nimbus Two Thousand and Ones and tailed under the two beaters attempting to get in and grab the bludger they were knocking back and forth. The other bludger was (to Harry's delight) tailing Gomez, but Harry wanted to know exactly what kind of broom she had – she was moving considerably faster than Harry could ever do on his Firebolt.

            With one mighty slam, Mariano slammed the bludger straight towards Ginny. With seconds left, she dropped the quaffle straight down. Both Ferre and Malfoy went streaking straight towards where it was falling. Harry looked down. Ferre was directly below him – now was his chance. He turned sideways on his broom and dropped faster than the quaffle directly in front of Ferre, who screamed and veered off to the left. It was the second Devin needed. He grabbed the quaffle, shot straight up and met directly up with Manuel. He turned to his right, tossed the quaffle to Hannah, who soared above Manuel and dunked the quaffle through the left hoop.

            "Ten-Zero Hogwarts!" yelled the announcer, a small, but rather strong-voice red-haired Irish witch with thick, curly hair.

            Harry returned to playing height, now tailing the bludger who was still tailing Gomez dizzyingly, occasionally looking down to watch the furious pace of the game below, which was moving faster than the real World Cup that Harry had watched before in this same stadium. Campo, her hair swirling twelve feet behind her in loose braids that were falling apart just as Harry watched, was tossing the Quaffle back and forth between hands, making Hannah Abbot, who was trailing her fly from right to left to cover both other chasers that Campo could throw it to. Campo saw an opening and soared straight up.

            _It's up to me again_, thought Harry, seeing her heading towards her. He soared in front of Gomez, attracting the bludger to him and flew directly above the blurred form of Campo. She flew straight into the bludger and went spinning wildly away. Ginny swerved in, caught the quaffle, and made the second score of the game.

            But the three Bolivian chasers were now more furious than ever. They dived aggressively, blocking every pass that the Gryffindors made. Adrianne, however, proved worth all her training, as she blocked three attempts to score; only letting one through.

            "Omungabunga scores! Twenty-Ten Hogwarts!" yelled the announcer, as Simones flew away amidst cheers from her supporters.

            Harry watched further, thinking he saw the snitch once, and, upon realizing it was nothing more than a candy wrapper, finished his dive, hooking Gomez into a following that landed her flying straight into a gigantic Bolivian flag and having to untangle herself. Turning around with a smile, he saw a terrible scene: Crabbe, Goyle, Sanchez and Mariano, and both bludgers in a flying sphere of colors and balls. At extremely close range, all four players were trying to knock one another violently off their brooms.

            Harry flew towards over there in horror as Sanchez hit one of the bludgers at close range straight into Crabbe's head. Crabbe went flying off his broomstick, the latter floating, terrified, in midair. Harry strafed right, holding his hands to wither side as Crabbe went flying, watching Goyle flying after his friend. Crabbe was easily the size of Dudley, and Harry was quite apprehensive about trying to catch him, but he gritted his teeth and prepared for the 300 pounds of beater to smack straight into him. Crabbe landed, and, with a groan, Harry's Firebolt began to sink – it wasn't used to the weight. But it gave Goyle the time to fly over carrying Crabbe's broomstick, and to save Crabbe, who wildly swung his bat and was able to unseat Simones, who was just about to score a second ten points for Omungabunga.

            "YEAH!" yelled Ginny, catching the Quaffle, and setting off below the battle above her.

            Both teams remained neck-and-neck for the next hour of play. The score was 220-200 Omungabunga. The snitch was seen thrice, but each time one of the seekers headed the other off and was able to continue the game. The fourth time the quaffle was sighted by Gomez, who dropped straight down, remaining seated on her broom as if nothing was happening. Harry wondered if his Firebolt had that feature, but decided that it wasn't time to be wondering but time to be playing. He lay prone on the handle and aimed the Firebolt down to where the snitch was doing loop-de-loops among the heads of some of the Omungabunga supporters in the lowest stands. Gomez was far ahead and gaining quite a bit. Harry looked around for some way to strop her, and saw a bludger heading straight for him. He grabbed the bludger bodily, and held on with all his might. It struggled mightily, and Harry flew side-to-side unsettlingly. Gritting his teeth, Harry threw the shining black ball straight at the other seeker. It flew straight by her and slammed into the bottom of the stands nearby.

            As if in slow motion, Harry saw the wood supporting the bleacher crack, and spectators, stands, flags and two witches selling concessions fall to the ground, starting at the center of the stand and billowing outward in a sickening ripple. Screaming spectators jumped and flew in all directions as a content bludger soared back towards Hannah. Three screaming fans jumped, grabbing onto Gomez's broom seconds before she would have grabbed the snitch. In a cascade of fans, splinters and candy, the snitch disappeared once more.

            "TIME-OUT!"

            All the players landed, watching as healers helped remove spectators from the debris of the bleacher. It was nearly half an hour before the game was about to start again. The Omungabunga players were sitting next to their brooms on the grassy field enjoying the sunlight, while the Hogwarts players stood around nervously, panting loudly even this long after they had been flying. Harry casually looked up…and did a double take. The snitch was flying ten feet above him. If he caught it now, would it count?

            Some spectators apparently noticed too, because they were pointing. Harry then remembered the official rule considering damage-related time-outs – the game was still going, but players were not allowed to mount their brooms. Silently thanking Ron for _Quidditch through the Ages_, Harry ran up one aisle of stands. He was dimly aware of the booing Omungabunga fans pelting him with candy wrappers as he got to where he wanted – the snitch was hovering seven feet in front of him on a level plane, watching the proceedings with mild interest. Harry grabbed wildly, and found himself holding the robe of a nearby girl who was screaming sexual assault. Right now, Harry didn't care. He aimed the robe and tossed it.

            The tropical-colored garment flew in a perfect trajectory, catching the snitch unawares in midair. The snitch was instantly tangled up in the robe, which fell to the ground.

            "Adrianne!" yelled Harry.

            She didn't need telling twice. She sprinted across the field, heaved up the robe and grabbed the struggling snitch. She tossed it over to Harry – but there was Gomez, right beside Harry. She grabbed Harry's knees, and both of them cascaded to the ground. She then jumped on Harry's back and reached up for the snitch – and Malfoy crashed into her, grabbing the snitch. Harry reached up, took it from Malfoy's hand and held it up to the screaming crowd.

            "GRYFFINDOR WINS!" yelled the Irish witch.

            "That was the coolest save I've seen," said Ron, who appeared beside Harry, grinning. "Ever."

            They played four more qualification rounds after that, but none were as hard as their first game. On Saturday night (the final would start at 6:00 the next day), they sat around outside, near the French huts, eating chicken that they were roasting over an open fire, occasionally entertaining enthusiastic fans who were arriving from all over the world.

            "Well," said Ron, taking a big bite of chicken, "I wish I could've played…"

            "What are you talking about? There's always tomorrow's match!" said Hannah.

            "Who are we playing?"

            "Well," Madam Hooch began, swallowing a particularly big bit of chicken breast, "There's a game going on right now, well, since last night. We'll either be playing The American International Wizarding School in Sumatra or the Agwepo School in Burkina Faso."

            "Last night?"

            "Well, last time I heard the score was 6840 to 3520, Agwepo, so we'll probably be playing them."

            "But their seeker must suck, if the game's been going on that long," said Adrianne with a nod to Harry.

            "Well, maybe… I actually heard she's really good… but the referee thinks that the snitch left the field and is going back to India, where it's from. He said it looked a little homesick last night."

            "So, tomorrow, everyone from Hogwarts will be coming, huh?"

            "Yeah, I can't wait to see all my friends again!"

            Harry sighed and looked around. Like so often lately, he felt something he couldn't describe. He was here, they had gone so far, yet something was telling him that it all didn't matter. All he had been thinking about lately were those words scrawled in untidy handwriting on the thick piece of parchment Harry had held two months ago. Hedwig had returned with no word from Sirius, and everyone was warning Harry to be careful. And if Sirius had been alive, why hadn't he come and seen Harry and the others, or even tried to contact them besides that note in his will? And why had the will arrived so late after his death? His name did take a few months to be cleared with the authorities, but…

            "Yo."

            Harry looked up in surprise. Standing behind him were Seamus and Neville. Behind them stood literally the entire school of Hogwarts spilling out across the field from the entrance hall, chattering and screaming. Teachers, ghosts, and a peeved Peeves who hadn't successfully completed a prank since Professor Artemis had begun teaching the students how to freeze him.

            "Hey! You're early!"

            "Yeah, well, Professor McGonagall couldn't take the pressure. She brought us all here about a day early."

            "Professor McGonagall!? That's about the most unlikely person to freak about Quidditch."

            "Tell me about it."

            The next morning dawned bright and cold. Looking outside, Harry could see broomsticks circling over the trees of the forest beyond the château. All nine Hogwarts players were carried upon the surging hands of the crowd to their entrance where the walked again for the fifth and last time into the gigantic marble changing rooms. They were officially playing Agwepo; the snitch was discovered in Ankara, Turkey where it was asking an escaped bludger for directions.

            "Alright, this is it!" said Ginny.

            "Even Charlie didn't get this far," said Harry.

            "He could have gotten to the _real_ world cup."

            "I guess so, but _you_ got to this world cup."

            "Heh, yeah, did you see Errol yesterday?"

            "What?"

            "He had, like, about 20 letters attached to him. Everyone in the family is feeling the need to write about 5 letters each. Even Percy had to write his congratulations."

            "Yeah, Errol wasn't looking too good…"

            "I'm wondering when he's going to die already!"

            Laughing, Harry grabbed his broomstick and readied himself for the final match.

            "Well, this is it, I guess," said Adrianne.

            "Wow, you're pretty perceptive for a half-blood." Devin was given to fits of what Harry called being Draco-ish, but having him on his team, Harry was realizing why the sorting hat had put him in Gryffindor – not just because he had asked it to.

            "Not with these mudblood-lovers around," muttered Crabbe, indicating the team.

            They faintly heard the announcer yelling the names of the other team:

            "From the Agwepo School in Burkina Faso, we have… Abasi… Uhcenna… Wambua…Obike… Hasani… Jawara and… DUMBLEDORE!"

            Dumbledore… what? Harry didn't understand what was going on… who was named Dumbledore from Africa… was it just a coincidence? But he didn't have time, they were announcing the Hogwarts players, and the crowd was cheering louder than ever.

            When Harry erupted into the stadium, the stands were full, as full as they were for the world cup. Thousands of people were shouting and screaming and when he came out a gigantic group of witches and wizards began stamping their feet shouting "Potter! Potter!" their various accents combining to make a melodious sound to his name.

            Harry looked over at the other team. He could see six very dark-skinned bodies flying up in bright yellow robes around the stadium, and all six were very large and muscular without the added poundage of Crabbe and Goyle. The only girl was Abasi, their keeper, who looked so much like Angelina that Harry's brain took a few seconds to click in that she _wasn't_ their captain from the previous year. The only white player was a small, short girl, their seeker, flying high above everyone's head in bright yellow robes. Brown hair tumbled down her back, and Harry knew before getting a close view. _Annette._

            Harry's heart dropped and his stomach flip-flopped to avoid it. That was none other than Annette Dumbledore, the same person who had left that note under Harry's pillow at Ron's house, who had held his hand in the field that night before the Quidditch tryouts so long ago, that had appeared bloody and weathered on his bed just a few months earlier. The shock of finding her alive, well, and attending school (she couldn't pay tuition or something, right) and in Africa no less (she was with the Order and with Lupin and…) was nearly enough to knock Harry off his broom. He grabbed hold the last second and flew foreword.

            As the game began, Annette waved fiercely at the crowd… and at Harry. She then, among cheers soared down as if she had seen the snitch. Harry dropped and saw that she was flying quite close to the ground, and slowly. Realizing what she was trying to do, Harry flew up beside her, utterly confused about her situation.

            "Annette?"

            "Ssh! Keep your voice down!" she hissed as the blur of the crowd rose in cheers. "Listen, I can't explain now. Tell Lupin that they are angry."

            She began to speed away. Harry caught up with her.

            "What do you mean? Who's angry?"

            "Just tell him that!"

            Was this it? After all that had happened, after everything that could have been, only a message for Lupin? Wasn't she captured? What had they been doing? Lupin had looked alright… Why was she playing for the Agwepo team? Hadn't she said that she didn't attend school? Since when had she lived in Africa?

            He tried to put it all out of his head, and focus on the game, which was fierce from the get-go. They used so many nasty tricks that even the Slytherins would be surprised. They repeatedly got fouls, but as many points as Hogwarts gained in foul shots; they got twice as many when they weren't seen.

            Hannah caught the first ball of the game. She spun upwards and did a barrel roll, dodging a bludger and then shot straight foreword. Seeing their beaters, Uhcenna and Wambua, closing on her and catching an errant bludger, she tossed the quaffle aside to Malfoy. Just as it was about to hit Malfoy, Wambua knocked the bludger right into the quaffle. Devin jumped to the front of his Nimbus and shot for it, leaving Hannah's side unprotected. Both beaters closed on Hannah, knocking their bats straight into the front of Hannah's broom. Hannah, screaming, watched as a great crack appeared in the side of her broom. She went spinning off towards the ground, smashing into Malfoy along the way. Malfoy dropped the quaffle, which was caught by a triumphant Hasani.

            "TIME OUT!"

            They all landed and watched Hannah's wobbly descent to the ground, tears poring down her face.

            "My-my-broom!" she sobbed.

            "I haven't seen such foul tactics!" yelled the referee. "Ten points to Hogwarts."

            But it got Agwepo what they wanted. Ernie subbed in, but, as Ernie usually played seeker, he wasn't as good as he could have been.

            The quaffle was thrown into the air again, and this time Jawara caught it. He went flying for the Hogwarts goal posts. Adrianne flew straight in front of him, ready to grab it. He threw it sideways to Obike and they played a one-two up to the goal ring. However, seeing which ring they were aiming for, Adrianne spread out her robes like a mating lizard and made herself as big as possible to catch the ball. There was no way that a ball could get through that ring, and Obike (who presently had the quaffle) was too close to the center goal to be able to successfully aim to a different hoop. Normally, one would back up and pass it to Hasani who was behind him. Hasani made a signal with his hands. Grinning, Obike grabbed the ball and threw it straight at Adrianne's face.

            Now two players were out. Harry felt sick. If Agwepo could take someone else on the Hogwarts team out, Hogwarts had lost for sure. Ron subbed in as keeper, but looked whiter than before his first game.

            "I – I can play on," Adrianne choked through a mouthful of blood.

            Now the game was on in earnest. Neither side cared anymore what they did. Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle were more than happy with this type of game, and matched the other team's every move. However, many other Hogwarts team members were less than happy about that.

            Ginny got the quaffle first this time. She flew up and down in an extended wave. Just watching her made Harry feel sick. Then, showing her skill at "dirty" playing, she flew so close to the ground that Jawara, who was marking her, hit the ground sickeningly. Triumphantly, she shot straight up into the air. And then, Uhcenna fumbled and "dropped" his beater's bat. The bat fell straight towards Ginny, who swerved to avoid it, but it gave Obike time to steal it right out of her hands and kick her straight in the face. Furthermore, Uhcenna, dropping to the ground after his bat, was able to shoot down by Ginny, grab her broom and ram her straight into Malfoy. Both tumbled foreword, unsettling them.

            Harry, watching Obike shoot across the pitch, dropped down by Adrianne. Ernie landed on the other side, and all three grinned at each other.

            "Just a game…"

            "Hell yeah!"

            They all shot towards Obike. Obike smiled and tossed the quaffle right up into the air. All three of them dived for it, and, hidden by the glare of the sun, Hasani dropped out and caught it, sending the tail of his broom straight into Ernie's face. Ernie flew aide, holding his nose, as Hasani sent the quaffle sailing straight through the right hoop.

            Just then, Harry caught sight of the snitch floating lazily, a glittering a prism of multicolored sparkles floating far above the pitch. He shot straight for it, feeling wind behind him. Risking a glance, he saw that Annette was close on his tail. Gritting his teeth, he shot after it, which had begun to run away. It flew towards Annette's side and now Harry saw the situation clearly: Annette was in the worse position. Harry was in the perfect position to ram into her, knocking her aside. No matter how she dodged, Harry would have that split second which was the perfect time to grab the snitch. Watched by over a million eyes, Harry shifted on his broom.

            "Can't do it, can you?" mocked a voice in his head. Amber's voice. She was watching, but how could she talk directly into his head.

            But he realized that she was right. Looking over at Annette, beautiful hair streaming by tantalizingly, Harry couldn't do it. He just couldn't hurt her. He pulled back, nearly screaming at his stupid, mixed-up feelings. Then he saw a bludger whiz by him and hit Annette milliseconds before she would have been able to touch the snitch. But this time, the cheer from the Hogwarts supporters was much different. There were shouts and angry voices, and though Harry couldn't make out what they were saying, Harry knew it couldn't be anything good. Angrily, Madam Hooch called for a time out.

            "What do you think you're doing, Harry?"

            "I'm sorry, ma'am, I…"  
            "You can't take it from her, can you?" drawled the voice of Malfoy, landing behind them.

            "Mr. Malfoy, kindly stay out of this," snapped Madam Hooch. "But… he does have a point. Harry, weather you've met that girl or not, you had a perfect opportunity there, and you gave it to her."

            Harry said nothing. He felt shame and embarrassment eating away at every part of his body. _Why? Why couldn't I just do it up there, it would have been so easy, I've done that move hundreds of times in practice!_

            "Ron, are you willing to play for him?"

            Ron stood up, his expression unfathomable.

            "Harry," he said seriously, "do you reckon you can do it?"

            Harry looked at the muddy grass. Could he? What would it mean to him? How would Annette feel? It was no longer "just a game" to Harry. This tournament wasn't for winning the World Cup – it had become a battle against himself.

            Slowly, Harry nodded.

            Madam Hooch surveyed him then marched back to her seat at the bottom of the stands. Harry mounted his broom once more. He pushed off from the ground and flew directly into the sky, shouting. He was ready this time; he could knock Annette off her broom…

            The game continued at a blinding pace. Hogwarts got more than half of its points from fouls, but Agwepo was still pulling ahead. The next sighting of the snitch happened when the score was 290 to 210, Agwepo. Night had fallen, and visibility was low. It was tailing right in the center of the pitch, perfectly at playing height. Harry saw it first – and was off like an eagle, zigzagging among players to get to it. Just then, two bludgers collided in midair and shot off in two directions – one towards Harry, and the other off towards where Annette was coming from the other side of the pitch. Harry ducked the bludger and when he brought his head up found himself surrounded by a swarm of five brooms which created a sphere around him. All three chasers and both beaters were blocking any movement, and the beaters were gesturing menacingly with their beater's bats.

            "Damnit!" Harry growled between clenched teeth.

            "Harry!" Harry heard Ginny's voice call from somewhere nearby. "Go down!"

            However, looking down, Harry didn't exactly see a way to get down. The moving hive of Agwepo players was blocking all exits.

            "Just go! Now!"

            Harry closed his eyes and dived.

            "Jump from your broom!"

            "What?"

            But Harry didn't have time. He slid lightly off the end, heard two beater's bats crack into each other above him, and fell right onto Ginny's. Grinning, Ginny accelerated towards the snitch. They were going to get there ages before Annette, even with the lost time – and suddenly everything seemed to slow down.

            There world seemed darker. There was an explosion from somewhere. Harry couldn't see… just green flashes, red flashes… screaming… Harry's head hurt so much…

            He was back in the Department of Mysteries, watching Sirius die, over and over again, he heard his parents last screams, he saw Voldemort rising, Cedric dying…

            "EXPECTO PARTONUM!" he yelled.

            The voices didn't stop. He faintly felt himself fall off Ginny's broom, but by now he was out of the world. He was screaming now, tearing and ripping at Mrs. Black's portrait, but every time he did, Kreatur would paint it again… "Sirius!"… Annette was crying, her hair as messed up as it had been… Luna was lying on the ground, her lobster slowly climbing over her ludicrous lion hat which lay broken beside her… Mrs. Weasley was crying over the dead bodies of her family members back in Grimmauld Place… He was walking towards his hearing in the Ministry… He was hearing whispers grow louder and louder…

            "HARRY!" cried a distant voice.

            The whispers were there, a door was opening, a key was in his hand, but why did he need a key if the door was right there, he didn't…

            "HARRY! SNAP OUT OF IT!"

            He fell into the supporting hands of Ron and Neville. Around him, fires and explosions let the dark night multiple colors. Most of the stands had collapsed. Voices were screaming spells.

            "Death Eaters," said Ron grimly.

             And leading them was a face that Harry had seen only twice before. A sickening, pearly-white face of bone, red slits of eyes shining out from below his mask, his cold, cruel body pitched in delight.

            "THOSE WHO HAVE THE COURAGE TO SUPPORT LORD VOLDEMORT STAND BY ME!" he yelled in a high-pitched voice. "OTHERS, BEWARE!"

            "Let's get out of here," yelled Ron, though Harry could barely hear him through the throbbing, terrible pain in his scar.

            He was half-dragged out of the stadium, and then, not seeing, not hearing, he simply ran foreword, his arm detaching from Ron's and Neville's without a thought. This is it, thought Harry, I'm going to die. Sirius, if you're dead, I'll be there soon, and if you're alive, I'll be waiting for you…


	20. Chapter 20: Wilderness

Sorry I didn't respond to all your wonderful reviews last chapter. Alright, here's this chapter. Yes, the ending is sort of like that scene in the Matrix, on re-reading I just realized that, but, whatever. I really hope you enjoy this chapter, because I really enjoyed writing it, I think it's one of my better ones.

Chantal – Thanks! What story is yours, I'd love to check it out!

SmacksKiller – Heh, glad you enjoyed it.

write-me – Wow, thanks for putting me on your favorites, now I feel special. I love your work, keep it up.

Anonymous80 – Thanks for reviewing… hope you get a chance to read the rest.

graphicrockstar – Cool, thanks for reading, you rock my world. And, yeah, I'll change that someday.

bukbeke – Amazing, I'm glad you reviewed. I was originally going to have some of the new characters play a bigger role… some of them will, certainly… but decided to keep it true to the original series.

**Chapter 20: Wilderness**

            Harry wasn't exactly aware of what happened next. The next thing he was aware of was his face stinging as branches scratched violently across it. His chest hurt from running, his skin was caked with dried blood and dirt. His left arm hung limply by his side, and, when he tried to force it to move, pain shot through him. Panting, he collapsed on the cold, hard ground, dimly thankful that Lockhart wasn't there – that arm had already lost all its bones and had them painfully regrown overnight.

            "Harry? Harry? Is that you?" a girl's voice said from nearby.

            Harry let out what he hoped was a groan of assent because his mouth didn't seem to be working right.

            A broomstick hit the ground nearby, and a small, tomboyish body collapsed beside him, tailing a ponytail that shone with a faint red even in the nearly complete darkness that surrounded them the forest.

            "Ginny?" Harry croaked.

            "I'm so…so glad…so glad I found you…"

            A head-shaped object hit the ground beside him.

            "You…you've got bad breath."

            Harry gave a feeble laugh, pain slashing through his body once more.

            "Where…" Harry began.

            "Don't know…Death Eaters…Went after you and Ron…"

            "What are you two doing here…partying without me?"

            Harry feebly raised his head and saw Hannah Abbot. Her black Quidditch robes were trailing off her, torn and ripped, and she clutched the broken handle of her new Silver Arrow X she had bought for the tournament. Blood seeped from the corners of her mouth, but she looked in better shape than either Harry or Ginny. Harry let his head drop to the ground, watching a nearby worm worm its way through a pile of fallen leaves.

            "Here," she said, tapping both of them with her wand. From the point her wand touched him, Harry felt terrible, heart-rending cold expand in a network. He heard Ginny screaming next to him in pain, begging Hannah to take away the pain. The icy web extended throughout his body, congealing in a thick syrup of freezing nerves in his broken arms.

            "Hannah!" he cried, unable to take it anymore. This was nearly as bad as the Crucias curse.

            Then, the cold was slowly replaced by warmth, spreading in the same manner as the cold. The warmth was refreshing, healing. Once the whole process was over, Harry felt as if he was covered in a warm blanked. Harry wanted nothing more than to fall asleep right there, but he knew that he had to get out of there. He pushed himself off the ground and stood. Then, he looked down in amazement – he had used both arms.

            "You… you healed me?" he asked Hannah, as Ginny's screams were washed away into moans of pleasure.

            "Not well… But both my parents are healers, so they helped teach me magical first aid. Only, I can't use it on myself. LUMOS," she added as an afterthought.

            Harry blinked in surprise, as the forest clearing became awash with brilliantly shining light from the tip of Hannah's wand. Ginny was lying on the ground in a pool of blood that had been flowing from her abdomen. Despite Hannah's healing, she looked terribly vulnerable. Her robes were even more ragged than Hannah's, and her skin was a white that Harry thought only paint in Aunt Petunia's house could achieve. Hannah looked enervated to the point of half-death, and her skin was a startling shade of yellow-grey. The forest around them looked more forbidding than the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts. Gargantuan trees overhung them trailing long, sinuous vines that swung ominously, occasionally lashing at them and whipping back with an audible crack when a particularly strong gust of wind stirred them. Through the dense foliage, Harry could see nothing more than a few trees in, but what he saw wasn't good – carved on many of the larger trees were the same runes and markings Harry had seen underground in the catacombs under Hogwarts.

            "What do you think they are?" asked Hannah, motioning to the symbols.

            Harry wondered… could the Cult of the Spider exist here as well?

            "I don't know…" Harry lied.

            "Well, anyway, it's no use standing around here," Hannah said. "ENERVATE!"

            Ginny rolled over in her sleep. It took three more castings of the spell before Ginny grudgingly awoke and followed them crashing through the forest.

            "Where exactly are we going?" she yelled over the crunching of their footsteps, brushing a thorny branch out of her face so it whipped back and tore at Harry.

            "To find the others!" Hannah yelled back.

            "Well, we're certainly making enough noise for them to find us!"

            She was right. Ron, Ernie and Adrianne emerged from the thicket, beating down branches with their broomsticks.

            "It looks like the whole team's here!" said Ernie, half-smiling.

            "Ron! Ron! You're okay!" yelled Ginny, rushing over to Ron and hugging him.

            "You're sounding more like mum every day. Hey, Harry, why'd you run away from Neville and I?"

            "To tell you the truth, I don't know… I just felt this impulse…"

            "You ran right at You-Know-Who, yelling and screaming," Ron said grimly, disentangling himself from his sister. "Your wand was shooting so many sparks I thought it was Guy Fawkes Day!"

            "Seriously? I don't remember any of this!"

            "I didn't see what happened next… the next thing I knew, everyone was running towards the forest. I went, too… the Death Eaters were chasing people… and then the Dark Mark appeared."

            "And…how about my Broomstick?" asked Harry, already knowing the answer.

            "It was… er… sort of… annihilated… in some of the fighting."

            "So, that makes two broomsticks," Harry said bitterly, remembering when his Nimbus Two Thousand had been snapped in his third year. "And this time, there's no Sirius around to buy me another one."

            "There might be," said Ginny. "Remember the letter?"

            "Yeah, but why hasn't he ever tried to contact me some other way?"

            "I don't know… maybe he can't."

            There was a short pause. The six of them all looked at each other.

            "Hey, what's with these markings on the trees?" asked Ernie suddenly.

            "Hey, Harry, these are the same as-"

            Harry stamped on Ron's foot and pointed at the others.

            "Same as what?" asked Ginny.

            "Well tell you later," muttered Ron.

            There was more silence. They heard the distant howl of a wolf and watched a squirrel run nimbly across some overhanging branches.

            "Well," Adrianne said finally, "we're not getting all the way back to England on our own. Let's try and find a teacher or something."

            They all nodded and proceeded onward through the forest. Maybe it was just Harry's imagination, but he thought the forest was getting thicker and more menacing with every step. Hannah's light was no longer sufficient without the help of the moonlight, so all six now had their wands lit, occasionally sending up sparks in case anybody saw. Finally, they simply couldn't take it anymore.

            "Can we rest?" panted Ernie from the ground – he had just tripped over a tree root.

            Grateful for the excuse, all of them plopped down by a tree and sat for a while. 

            "Can any of you sixth years conjure water?" asked Adrianne, who was only in her fourth year.

            Ron made a feeble motion with his wand, but the man who had once conjured a Finder Fairy was only able to produce a feeble shoot of water that flew out of the end of his shining wand and soaked into the ground. They lapsed back into the forced, stressful silence. There was one thing on each of their minds: _Where theinsert explicative here are we and how the insert same explicative here are we getting back to school?_

            Just then, they heard the crunching of leaves followed by four voices that Harry was loath to hear: both Malfoys were talking in bored, drawling voices followed by a panicky Crabbe and Goyle. Somehow, however, even hearing the Slytherins was calming. They fought their way through the branches (who did quite a good job of fighting back) over to the light.

            "Oh," said Devin, hoisting himself over a patch of mushrooms, "it's you."

            "It looks like your whole damn team is here now," added Draco.

            Crabbe and Goyle looked very much relieved to see the other team members around.

            "Well, what's happening?" demanded Ernie rudely. Apparently, the Hufflepuffs didn't like the Slytherins any more than the Gryffindors did.

            "Manners, Macmillan. Back there," he pointed behind him, "there's something of a battle going on."

            "Where can we get back to school?"

            "How should I know?"

            Ernie and Devin looked swords at one another for some time – daggers weren't sharp enough.

            "Well, it'll be safer if we go together," Ginny said finally.

            "Go where?" sneered Draco. "Back there?"

            "Yes, back there. That's our way out."

            They all looked at each other. Amongst the chirping of crickets, they now heard faint screams.

            "Well, I'm going, anyway," said Ginny. "Suit yourselves."

            "I'm going with you!" cried Ron fiercely.

            "Me too," said Harry. He thought he sounded sort of lame beside Ron.

            "It'll be safer if we're together," agreed Adrianne.

            They looked at the others. Ernie looked uncertainly around. Hannah stared defiantly at the ground.

            "I'm going to be with you, Hannah, whatever you choose to do," he said quietly. The others turned their heads to watch in amazement. Hannah slowly looked up at him. Her eyes were welled up with tears.

            "When I first got to school," Hannah said shakily, "I can remember… I can remember when I put on the sorting hat."

            Harry watched her. She was trembling; every word seemed to be reawakening something deep within her. Harry blinked back tears of his own as he watched… he had never seen Hannah like this, her feelings naked. Tears made lines of cleanliness through her blood-covered and dirty face.

            "It told me… it gave me a choice."

            Harry suddenly felt something he had never felt before. He felt as if he knew what Hannah was going through – he remembered Cho crying the previous year in the Room of Requirement. But Harry felt something else between Hannah and Ernie – it wasn't just love. It was friendship.

            "It told me that I could be in Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff… It said if I chose Ravenclaw, I would go on to become a w-world famous healer…"

            Harry knew how hard this all must be for her to get out. Every word seemed to be a struggle, yet it was something that she had wanted to get out since she had heard it. Her hands were now clenched together up by her breasts; he looked somehow pleading and small to Harry.

            "And it said if I c-chose Hufflepuff…I would find f-f-friendship and love….I…I"

            But she couldn't say any more. Ernie held out his hands, and she fell limply into them, shuddering with each violent sob, tears dripping down her face. Ernie's face was unreadable. He unconsciously ran his hand down her hair.

            "I understand," he said quietly. "And I'll be here for you."

            Ginny was crying, too, but she was smiling and Adrianne was watching with rapt interest. Ron's eyes were misty, and Harry assumed he was dreaming of what it might be like with whoever he loved. Crabbe and Goyle's mouths were hanging open slightly more than usual. On the other hand, both Malfoys looked bored.

            "We're ready whenever you're done with this mushy shit," Draco drawled while Devin gave a huge fake yawn. No one responded.

            It was a while longer before Ernie and Hannah broke apart. Hannah's face was tear-streaked, but she was no longer crying. Ernie was smiling in a slightly bewildered way, and Harry thought Ron had a run for his money at being the most clueless person at Hogwarts.

            "Let's go… together," Hannah said.

            Ernie nodded dreamily.

            They all looked over to the four newcomers. Crabbe and Goyle shifted their enormous weight from foot to foot.

            "I'm going," Crabbe grunted finally, "I want to get back."

            "Me too," rumbled Goyle.

            "You know your fathers are probably out there… do you want to fight against them?"

            "We're a team," said Crabbe. "We worked together on the Quidditch pitch earlier, and we'll work together now."

            "Father won't stay with The Dark Lord," said Goyle slowly, forming together a sentence longer than any Harry had heard him say before, "not after this."

            They all looked uncertainly down at the Malfoy twins. Both didn't seem too keen on being left alone in the middle of the forest.

            "Go on, then," spat Draco. "Get out of here. If father or the Dark Lord kills you, the world will be better for it."

            They looked at each other and then began, ripping apart ivy as they progressed. They walked in silence (well, they did have Crabbe and Goyle breaking every twig, so silence wasn't exactly the perfect word) as they plodded on. However, before they were more than a few paces in, they heard a voice call out from behind them.

            "We're with you too," said Devin simply, picking himself up.

            "What?" snapped Draco. "Dev, have you lost your mind?"

            "What father is doing is wrong and you know it," said Devin. He didn't shout it; it wasn't a threat. It was simply a statement.

            "Yeah? You want all those mudbloods running around, huh? That's just what you want, isn't it?"

            "Dray, come on. I've had enough of this… it's murder."

            "And when have you been so afraid of that, huh? Go on, then, follow Potter. The two of you deserve to die."

            Harry couldn't believe his eyes – how quickly Draco had turned on his own brother. Apparently, Devin couldn't either.

            "What?"

            "Father sent you away to that school of yours to knock this nonsense out of you. But, apparently, all those galleons were wasted."

            "Dray…"

            Devin seemed lost.

            "Yeah? What? What are you going to say now? That Granger is your girlfriend?"

            Harry and the others watched dumbly, all looking a bit Crabbe and Goyle-ish.

            "Dray, just come along with us. It's not like we'll be cursing father or anything!"

            "Go away. I don't want to see your ugly face again."

            Deafening silence echoed among the trees.

            "I'm not leaving you here," Devin said finally.

            "Oh? Little Devin cares so much about his brother now?"

            "You're coming."

            "Make me."

            There was a second's pause then…

            "I'm sorry, Dray… STUPEFY!"

            The trees glowed red for a second with the light of the spell and then Draco remained sitting, his head lolling to the side.

            "Devin, you…" began Harry.

            "LOCOMOTOR TWIN BROTHER!"

            There were no words to describe how Harry suddenly felt towards Devin. But Harry realized words weren't needed. In that clearing, he had watched two lovers' first kiss, and two brothers betray each other. _That's just the way life is_, thought Harry dully as he plodded along behind Crabbe and Goyle, who were more effective than any number of machetes for clearing the trees.

            As they walked, the shouting became louder and louder as the arcane symbols on the trees became fewer and fewer. A few curses and hexes flew through the air nearby, singeing trees, and, once, making Adrianne give a great, high-pitched yelp and show her skill at acrobatics as a yellow spell exploded right next to her, making a very confused squirrel's ears to grow past the earspan of even Dobby. They began to half-run, brushing wildly past bushes, wands at the ready. Only Ernie and Hannah, invigorated by their newfound love, still had the energy to keep their wands alight. The others held their wands limply by their side. Hannah had abandoned the broken pieces of her useless broom, and Devin, Ernie and Adrianne had all cast aside their healthy ones. Ron and Ginny both occasionally seemed to extend their hand to do the same, but each time a vision of their mother's face appeared in the air before them, and they quickly retracted their hands as if they had been stung by a particularly potent nettle.

            They finally, after what seemed like an eternity of walking, but was probably only twenty minutes, saw a flickering green light through the trees. Pushing themselves out, they found themselves in the thick of a raging firefight. Ministry wizards wearing brilliant blue robes were dueling masked Death Eaters. Voldemort was nowhere in sight, but the Dark Mark was, giving off the terrible, glittering green light that bathed the courtyard where the World Cup had been only the previous day. The Hogwarts students quickly dodged back into the relative safety of a nearby, grassy clearing in which lay the bleeding body of a dead Ministry wizard.

            "I feel sick," Adrianne said hoarsely, and she ran off into the forest, retching. Harry didn't feel too good either.

            Harry kicked the body aside into the undergrowth, and thy all sat down (except for Draco who floated down), and Devin heaved a sigh.

            "Right, we have to get out of here," Ginny said matter-of-factly.

            "Well, duh," said Ron, trying his utmost to sound casual. "I think we need to get back to the place we came from. That genie might take us back."

            "So, how are we going there?" asked Hannah, curling up into Ernie's arms. Harry watched enviously, thinking of Annette's warmth, how she had made him feel so, totally, lost into her love.

            "Shield," grunted Crabbe. Apparently, he had used his daily quota of complete sentences.

            "Right," said Harry thoughtfully, wishing Hermione was there more than ever. "We need some way to cover ourselves."

            "Well…" began Ron hesitantly, "there are other uses of Ronlius Weaslium…"

            "What do you mean?" Harry asked as the rest of the party stared at Ron in bewilderment.

            "I mean, it can make clouds as well as destroy them."

            "So you're saying," Devin said slowly, "that we cover ourselves in a big cloud. Okay, first, how will we see where you're going?"

            "Well, they're not _that_ thick… unless you want them to be."

            "Okay, second, won't it look just a little weird for a cloud to be floating around?

            "Well, if it's a black cloud, not many people will see us, and those who do will be too involved in the firefight to care."

            It sounded like a brilliant plan to Harry.

            "Well," said Ginny, jumping up eagerly, "let's go get Adrianne."

            They all got up, though much slower than Ginny, and called out for Adrianne who came back a pale shade of green. Hannah and Ernie flicked off their wands with a whisper of "NOX" and the world went completely dark. Their eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness and they were surrounded by eerie shadows and multicolored light from the firefight outside. Devin once again magicked his brother into the air.

            "RONLIUS WEASLIUM!"

            It got quite a bit darker and wetter.

            "Come on," whispered Ron. They picked their way carefully through the forest, wary of gigantic roots and low branches. Upon emerging, they broke into a run, feet pounding towards the still-glittering sign that had once read "ENTRANCE HALL" and now read "DARK WIZARD ESCAPE". They were only faintly aware of the yelling and shouting behind them.

            "Ginny!" yelled Ron, pulling his sister aside seconds before a curse flew straight by her.

            "We're almost there," panted Harry. He immediately regretted the waste of breath.

            From behind them, Hannah screamed. They turned and saw through the swirling black mist that she had slipped on a muddy patch of grass and fallen heavily.

            "Hannah!" yelled Ernie, extending his hand. The others stopped and waited for them - the cloud couldn't move without everyone in it. And then Harry heard what he feared most.

            "ARACHNIDORA!" said a whiny voice behind them.

            A sticky spider web flew into the air, and everyone except Draco (whose body floated disconcertingly a few inches from the ground) and Hannah were pulled in. The cloud dissipated instantly.

            "Not trying to run away, are we?" asked a Death Eater, his malevolent smile apparent even from under his mask.

            "Yes, we are!" yelled Harry, gesticulating as much as possible while covered in the sticky web to Hannah, who, thankfully understanding him, rolled aside into even darker shadows.

            "Children… from Hogwarts no doubt… Oh, but look… My lord will be _very _pleased about this catch, yes he will.

            Harry saw a glint of silver, reflecting the terrible green of the Dark Mark blazing far above them, emerge from under the Death Eater's robe.

            "Wormtail!" gasped Harry.

            "Yes…" sneered Wormtail.

            The man who was responsible for his parents' deaths stood in front of Harry.

            "I'll kill you. I'll fucking kill you!" said Harry dangerously, struggling against his bonds. He hadn't felt this angry since Bellatrix had murdered Sirius.

            "Really? I'd like to see you try."

            He then turned around. He was muttering, walking around them, touching his wand to different places on the web. Wherever his wand touched the web nearby glowed orange. Harry assumed that he was trying to levitate them all at once.

            "Now," said Wormtail, circling them, "the prophecy says that the only person who can kill you, Harry, is the Dark Lord himself."

            He held his wand out dangerously.

            "But I beg to differ. Let's see if this prophecy of yours comes true."

            Harry felt every hair on his body raging with anger.

            "Well," he said, "maybe I'll have a bit of fun, first. Maybe one of your friends wants die?"

            "NO!" shouted Harry.

            "Or maybe this will work…"

            He smiled evilly, pointing his wand directly at Harry. Harry couldn't think through the white-hot anger which seared his soul.

            "CRUCIO!"

            Harry felt pain sear through him, pain he had experienced once before in the graveyard where Voldemort had risen back to power. Between pain and anger, Harry was completely unaware of what was going on. He felt every muscle being ripped apart, his whole body twitching. He felt his burning mouth open in protest, but no sound could contain the pain that was burning white-hot within him.

            "Is that enough for now?"

            The pain eased away, leaving a hollow, empty sensation. Harry was crying, screaming, he didn't know what. He forced himself to stop, to focus, to look. In back of him he could feel the kicking of the other trapped bodies, and in front of him he saw the face of Peter Pettigrew, who had removed his mask and cowl and was smiling sickeningly.

            "Well, now, I think I've had enough fun for one day," he said. There was a triumphant air about him. "Let's see if Miss Trelawney was right, shall we?"

            Harry watched him, panting. There was nothing more to it; this was the end of his life, the end of everything. He remembered think before, how he had been thinking of how he could finally see Sirius… was this the time? Had his wanderings in the forest been nothing more than a prelude to his true end?

            "Do you believe in fate, Harry?"

            Did he? As angry and exhausted as Harry was, this kick started his brain into action: would the prophecy protect him? Would he live through this? But did he want to believe in fate: After all, he wanted to feel like he was in control of his own life.

            "Yes," he said through gritted teeth.

            "Well, then," he said with a smile, "In that case, the only way you're going to die is if the Dark Lord shows up behind me and kills you first."

            "Yeah?" spat Harry. "Then do it. Get it over with. Kill me."

            Wormtail's smile broadened.

            "As you wish."  
            He pointed his wand at Harry. Harry watched the trees rustle, the world go by… only hours ago, he had been playing Quidditch, having fun... And now he was going to die. Ron was behind him, he assumed he had a few seconds in which to say goodbye, to tell him to tell Hermione goodbye, to tell Annette he always loved her, to tell Luna to take that lobster out of her hair…

            "AVADA KEDAVRA!" Wormtail said, with a note of finality.


	21. Chapter 21: The Cult of the Spider

Anonymous80 – Draco Malfoy's a seeker, Devin Malfoy's a chaser… ANywayze, thanks for reviewing!

graphicrockstar – I accidentally added another chapter before, and I need an extra chapter to get it back to the top of the list, so expect constant extra chapters XDXD.

Sapphrine – I actually wrote the rest of the chapter (the beginning of this one), but decided that was a better place to stop. Thanks so much for reading, hope you like this chapter, too.

**Chapter 21: The Cult of the Spider**

            "Not this time, buster!"

Hannah plowed triumphantly into Wormtail. The spell erupted from his wand as he flew sideways and shot off into the forest. Wormtail's body rolled down the muddy hill, falling away into the darkness.

            "Hannah!" cried Ernie.

            "Watch out, this might hurt a bit… REDUCTO!"

            It did hurt, more than a bit, but the web was gone. The feeling of wind on his arms was the best feeling Harry had ever felt. The cool night air washed across him, taking away the fear, the anger, the everything…

            "We can talk later," said Ginny, "let's get out of here before he gets back up."

            "Good idea," said Ron.

            The whole world looked ten times more beautiful to Harry. The colors of death below were now brilliant flashes of beauty; the swaying trees were now a symbol of tranquility; the sound of the crickets was now a beautiful song… _I'm so glad to be alive!_

            They ran the rest of the way without a cloud and into the same stone room as before. The room was in a state of distress – the red carpet was torn and wasted, lying in a heap on the side of the room, the grand table was charred and destroyed and the genie's lamp lay in a pool of oil, tipped on the ground. Ginny grabbed the lamp and began to rub it.

            "No…" she moaned frantically. "NO!"

            No genie was coming out.

            "What's happening?"

            "The genie… he's not…"

            "What aren't I doing?" boomed a great voice. A glowing blue tornado rose from the broken lamp in Ginny's hands. Ginny dropped the lamp in surprise… except that it didn't drop. It remained stationary in the air. A great, glowing blue genie arose from the misty tornado.

            "Oh… oh sorry…" Ginny said, backing away as the form of the Genie became more defined.

            "Well, now, it looks the whole of the Quidditch team from before, plus a floating body… how'd you guys do?"

            "Well, the last game ended early," Harry said, "but we would've beaten them."

            "I think the official record goes to them," said Devin, moving his brother slightly to the left slightly to get a better view of the genie. "I mean, they _were _winning when the attack happened."

            "Yeah, but I could've gotten that snitch any day."

            "You could've gotten that snitch at the beginning," said Ron, grinning. "But oh no, you were too afraid to hurt your _girlfriend_."

            "Well," the genie said in a bored voice, "If you're finished arguing over Quidditch, I'd like to get back to my eternal sleep. And, you two in the back, no kissing allowed when a genie is around!"

            "I have a question," said Adrianne. "If your sleep is eternal, then how come you wake up at all?"

            "Listen, I didn't make up the rules or the terms. Now, let's see… seven conscious and one unconscious for Hogwarts, then?"

            "Wait, there's ten of us," said Ernie, "unless you're going to kick Hannah and me out for kissing…"

            "No… two of you guys have somewhere else to go."

            "What?" asked Harry in surprise.

            "Yeah, you and the red-haired boy need to make a quick trip somewhere… don't worry," he added, seeing their faces, "it's painless."

            That wasn't what was worrying them.

            "Anyway, if you two would kindly step outside for a moment, and stun the Death Eater who will approach on your right, then we can get going."

            Harry and Ron stared at each other.

            "Where are you sending us?" demanded Ron as everyone looked at them quizzically.

            "I can't tell you."

            "Why not?"

            "Because I don't know… it's not another one of my lamps."

            "So, why are you sending us there?"

            "Some guy asked me."

            "What kind of guy?"

            "I don't know… listen, are we going to play twenty questions or would you too get outside already, you're getting on my nerves."

            "We're not going anywhere until you tell us where we're going!" Harry shouted. He then went back over his words and realized exactly what he had just said.

            "Your friend Hermione is already there, if that's any help," said the genie in a bored voice. "And she's not getting out without you."

            "You're holding her hostage?"

            "Excuse me, _I'm_ not doing anything. Now, go out. And just so you know, all three of you will arrive safe and sound at school on Tuesday, so you'll miss Potions on Monday."

            Harry and Ron looked at each other.

            "How do you know all this?"

            "That's what the man told me to say to you… he gave me a whole script… we genies are good at memorizing things, you see."

            "And how did you know about the Death Eater?"

            "Because I saw him. Now he's moved. He's standing right next to the couple who I specifically asked _not to kiss while in my presence_!"

            Nine people turned around and yelled "STUPEFY!" Nine stunners hit the Death Eater, who collapsed to the ground.

            "Okay, great job," said the friendly genie. "Now leave the room and get the dead Death Eater outside, too… Actually, on second thought, Hogwarts would be a great place for him."

            "Okay, fine," sighed Harry. Ron looked less-than-eager to leave Ginny but, finally, he followed Harry out.

            Watching the genie from outside was very different from being in the whirlwind. The genie dropped back into the whirlwind, but the whirlwind didn't grow. Instead, Harry watched in amazement as all the figures in the room became smaller and smaller until they were sucked into the tip of the lamp, and the genie popped up again with a sardonic smile.

            "Alright," said the genie, "now come back here."

            They did so in silence.

            "Okay, sorry I have to do this, but it's orders, you see… STUPEFY!"

            A red bolt shot out of the lamp itself and hit Ron. Harry had just enough time to turn and try to run when the genie's second stunner hit him.

            "Harry! Ron! Wake up, wands out!"

            Harry felt a strange combination of numbness, cold and pain. It felt as if he was laying face-down on a bed of leaves and grass, which, opening his eyes and watching the world whirl into focus, he was. He pushed himself up, and had a momentary head rush. When it was over, he took a good look around. He was in the same clearing that he had awoken in the previous night – there were even marks from where he and Ginny had lay, and their footprints dried in the mud. Forcing himself to look around, he saw the same markings on the trees. They were far less ominous now than at night. Hermione was standing above Ron, who had curled up snugly in a carpet of leaves and dirt. Harry saw the inevitable a moment before it happened: a spider was crawling straight across his face.

            "Ron!" Hermione shouted.

            His mouth dropped open, a steady stream of drool splashing out onto some scurrying ants nearby. The spider crawled across his freckled nose and right into his mouth.

            "Ron!" Hermione shouted again, giving him a small push.

            "Wha…?" said Ron. Then there was a small pause. Spitting and screaming, Ron twirled up in a whirlwind that would have impressed the genie, spraying leaves, moss and everything else flying in all directions. Harry took cover, throwing himself behind a tree just as Ron's meal went flying by encased in saliva.

            "Ron! Calm down!"

            Ron opened and closed his mouth, but no voice came out. Then, looking ill, he disappeared into the trees.

            "What happened to you?" Harry asked her.

            "Professor McGonagall rounded up all the Hogwarts students except for Malfoy, Amber and the Quidditch team. I was so worried about you guys… did everyone get home safely?"

            Harry told his side of the story.

            "But you say Amber disappeared? I didn't see her anywhere…"

            "Well… she probably left with Annette… Why was she playing for that African school anyway?"

            "She said she'd explain everything later…"

            "Hmm… Things just don't add up here."

            "So why'd you end up coming to this place?"

            "Well, everyone was teleported to Hogwarts by the genie except for me. I went to this kind of… sanctuary. There were lots of fountains, and these angel-things… Then a voice… it was really ethereal, but it sort of sounded like Annette… told me that I wasn't supposed to be there and that the genie had bent time… Said I should go back… And then she sent me back to the world cup genie. Everyone else was gone. He shot a stunner at me, and the next thing I know I'm here."

            "Well, whatever the cause of all this, I would… I WOULD WATCH OUT BECAUSE THERE'S A COCKATRICE RIGHT NEXT TO YOUR HEAD!"

            Hermione screamed. Above her was a gigantic, multi-colored bird with menacing claws and a sharp beak that had strange purple gas rising from the edges. Its wings beat slowly to keep it in place in midair. Overall, Harry thought, you really couldn't get a more menacing bird, not counting Pigwidgeon. 

            "STUPEFY!" she yelled. It opened its mouth. Then, as Harry and Hermione stood hypnotized, the stunner began to slow down. The more gas that surrounded it, the slower the stunner went, until, finally, the stunner stopped in midair. The cockatrice batted it away lazily and stayed relatively motionless.

            "I wonder why it's not retaliating," whispered Hermione.

            "I dunno… it seems to just be sitting there. And that gas… it's sort of dispersing, but what do you think it is?"

            "Haven't you ever read _The Beastly Book of Beasts_?"

            "No, when I went to get a copy in Diagon alley, it shot all its pages at me trying to escape."

            "Didn't Hagrid tell you? You have to sing to it!"

            "Well, it wasn't a required book this time, thankfully… anyway, what did it say about cockatrices?"

            "The gas is anti-time gas… it slows down anything except for the cockatrice."

            The cockatrice hovered in the purple gas, apparently waiting for them to make the next move.

            "Well, if it's not going to do anything," said Harry, "Let's just leave."

            They started to back slowly away. The cockatrice shook its wings in what was definitely a shrug and then turned around, flapping away, trailing some violet smoke. Harry and Hermione turned and stared at each other… it hadn't wanted to attack them after all… but why had it stopped above them?

            "We should look for Ron" said Hermione.

            Harry nodded and crashed off into the forest calling "RON!"

            "I'm here!" shouted a panicked voice above them. Looking up through a break in the dense canopy, Harry saw Ron's body dangling from the claws of a smug-looking cockatrice.

            "HERMIONE! AFTER IT!" Harry yelled, ducking under branches and hauling himself over slippery rocks. The forest floor was muddy and mossy, and running was nearly impossible, especially trying to follow a low-flying bird of prey, but the cockatrice was moving rather slowly. Despite the fact that it apparently had a stomach full of anti-time gas, Harry was under the impression that those rainbow wings could go a lot faster… it almost seemed as if it wanted Harry and Hermione to follow it.

            They scrambled through the forest, screaming and calling, until they reached a cliff about twenty feet above some rushing rapids. Harry caught himself just in time, and held out a hand to steady Hermione. The cockatrice turned around and watched them.

            "Damnit!" Harry gasped. "STUPEFY!"

            The cockatrice breathed out a cloud of anti-time gas, and, that was probably a good thing, as Hermione pointed out that if he had hit, Ron would have dropped into the gorge.

            "Right… well, what spells can we use…"

            "ACCIO RON!" cried Hermione, whipping out her wand in a great arc of blue sparks. The spell stopped once again in an all-new cloud of gas.

            "I wish there was a way to get rid of that cloud!" Harry said.

            "Wait… do you think…" Hermione trailed off.

            "Sometimes," Harry said, grinning.

            But he never was able to find out what she was thinking, as just then Ron screamed, "As soon as you let me go, I'll kick your little wannabe-phoenix ass!"

            The cockatrice gave what was most definitely a smug shrug and then released Ron. Ron seemed to hover in midair for a few seconds and then fell, screaming, down into the rushing waters below. Harry gave a first scream as he watched Ron fall, and a second scream as Hermione arced her body and made a perfect dive after him. Both went sailing down for the rushing water below them.

            "CONJURIUS RAFT!"

            A rubber raft spun around in the air several feet in front of Harry, hanging over the water. Harry jumped out as the raft became more solid, silently thanking Professor McGonagall as he fell about two feet about the falling raft. Looking down, his stomach tightened in fear… the cliff was more like 100 feet deep, and Ron and Hermione still falling down towards t6he rushing, white water below him.

            Harry shut his eyes, feeling the cold spray of the rapids seconds before he hit the rubber raft. There were no oars, but he doubted he'd be able to control the boat much at this point. He tried his best to steer by leaning towards Ron, who had caught a rock jutting out of the water. But, just as he neared Ron, the boat hit a rock and flew into the air. Harry blindly thrashed, as the boat was sent foreword spinning in all directions. Ron pushed himself off a rock and grabbed a side of the raft, tilting it dangerously. Harry threw his weight to the other side, and Ron rolled in. Ron coughed up some water.

            "HERMIONE CAN'T SWIM!" he yelled as soon as he had his voice back.

            "WELL SHE CAN DIVE!" Harry yelled back as the boat was sent rushing unsteadily past a low outcropping of rocks.

            Bouncing in the boat, Harry and Ron spun around a corner and saw Hermione screaming, slowly slipping from a mossy rock, about fifty feet ahead.

            "WHEN WE COME BY, JUMP!" yelled Harry, frantically trying to keep the boat steady.

            They neared her, bumping off the cliff walls and watching Hermione fiercely try to keep a grip on her rock. Looking ahead, Harry saw something ahead of them that was spraying water in all directions. They were nearing Hermione, but, seconds before they arrived, she slipped, dropping off into the water ahead of them. Harry watched in Horror as her head hit a rock with a sickening crack.

            _She's not dead! She can't be dead!_ Harry thought fiercely, watching her limp body shoot by along the rapids

            "RON, STAY DOWN!"

            Harry grabbed Ron seconds before he would have thrown himself into the water. Shooting foreword through the pearly foam, they screamed for the unconscious Hermione. And, then, suddenly, Hermione's body disappeared. Ron and Harry saw it a second before they, too, went over it:

            "WATERFALL!"

            Harry took a great gulp of air, pressed his eyes shut and prayed for the best. He could feel the water below him, surging, every tiny droplet rushing for, lusting after the edge of the cliff. Harry could feel as he got closer and closer… and then, in seconds, he felt a familiar jerk in his stomach and was shooting over the cliff…

            Harry sat up uneasily and looked around. He didn't remember what had happened after shooting over the waterfall, he remembered only the cold fury of the water, Ron's screaming…

Harry's vision swam into focus. He was in a cold stone room lit by a few eerily glowing torches. He lay on a straw mattress, and his robes had been changed to a dark red. Across the room was a pitcher of water and an old cauldron he assumed was meant to be used as a chamber pot. The room was small. He looked over each wall in turn. When he came to the last wall, he gave an unpleasant jolt. Bars.

"I'm in prison," he said aloud. The sound echoed.

There were no dementors around, but they had fled Azkaban. However, from everything he'd been told about Azkaban, this place seemed somewhat different.

_            Well, the Swiss would have their own wizard's prison, wouldn't they?_ Hermione's voice said in his head.

            Hermione! What had happened? Was she dead? How about Ron? His last thought was answered almost immediately.

            "HARRY!"

            "RON!"

            Harry ran to the bars of his cell. Ron was across from him in another cell.

            "Where's Hermione?" Ron asked in a strangled voice.

            "I don't know… do you have any idea where we are?"

            "Well, that might give you some idea."

            He shook his hand pointing down the hall, where Harry had noticed a strange, orange glow. Looking down, he saw blazing orange fire arranged in a seven-pointed star.

            "Do you reckon we're under the school?" asked Ron.

            It was certainly possible, however, Harry had a feeling they were still in Europe.

            "Maybe…I don't know."

            They sat in silence for a few more minutes. Then, deep footsteps echoed down the hall. Two hooded figures approached. One bore the body of Hermione, also dressed in red. Her face was covered in bandages, but she looked healed.

            "Hermione!" gasped Ron.

            The hooded figures didn't seem to hear, or, if they had, care. One removed a chain from his neck which bore a key. He opened Ron's cell and threw Hermione's unconscious body unceremoniously in.

            "You," a figure said, pointing a hand at Ron. "You have been chosen."

            Ron stared, gaping at the figure.

            "Follow us. Your friends will remain safe."

            Ron looked around and then stumbled into the hall. The other one walked to Harry's cell.

            "Food," he said darkly.

            He removed a wand from within his sleeve and pointed it at the table in Harry's room. Some chicken and bread appeared there.

            "Eat."

            Nodding, Harry began, watching them lock Hermione up and walk out with Ron in tow.

            Harry waited for hours. He wasn't certain if he had slept or not, and down in the dungeon, he had no idea whether it was night or day. Eventually, Hermione awoke, slowly.

            "Harry…Ron…My wand! MY WAND IS MISSING!"

            "Yeah," said Harry grimly. "We're in prison."

            "Oh…"

            After Harry had told the story (badly), they lapsed into silence, not meeting one another's gaze.

            "I just want to get back to Hogwarts," Hermione said after a while.

            "Yeah," agreed Harry. It was so hard, sitting there, knowing, expecting to die… The genie said they'd be back by Tuesday… Had that time passed already?

            Seconds, minutes, hours later (Harry could no longer tell), the two robed cultists returned.

            "You two… You may arise. We apologize for our lack of hospitality… we needed to make sure you didn't leave until the anointed time. Come, the ceremony will start any minute now."

            "What?" screamed Harry and Hermione simultaneously, but it was no use. The cultist unlocked both doors, and bade them follow.

            "Where are we? What ceremony?" Hermione demanded, running to catch up with the cultist's long strides.

            "We are in the Great Temple of the Cult of the Spider… You are children from Hogwarts, yes?"

            "Yes…" began Harry uncertainly.

            "We sent our man to make sure you arrived. He… suggested that we bring all three along. But, the genie sent you back into the forest, so we asked our cockatrice to bring you. But once again, we failed, but we were able to save you before any drowned."

            "Your cockatrice… but why us?"

            "You will see. Come."

            They emerged into a large, grand chamber with a high, vaulted ceiling. No windows brought in lights, but a grandiose chandelier hung, sending dazzling rays of brilliance ricocheting through the room. The room looked like a church – benches were arranged all facing a high altar. Most of the benches were taken up by the same, red-hooded wizards as before. Burning behind the high altar was the now-familiar seven-pointed star.

            "Come," ushered the cultist. They were led down a set of steps down onto the floor and found seats near the front. From behind the altar rose a great, imposing figure in blue robes, hooded… but there was something familiar about him…

            "PROFESSOR ARTEMIS!" yelled Harry. No one seemed to take any notice except for Hermione who vehemently shushed him. The cultists seemed to only hear what they wanted to.

            "Today," announced Professor Artemis in a cold, booming voice. "Today is the day. Today is the night. Today, the speaker will arise again. Today, the dead will walk!"

            There was a cheer. Harry and Hermione sat, trembling, glancing for a possible exit.

            "Today, at last, the sacrifice has been chosen!"

            "Sacrifice?" said Hermione in an almost dead voice.

            As if on cue, Ron's limp body was raised to the cheering crowd.


	22. Chapter 22: Necromancy

Sorry it's been a while, and this chapter sucks so much, I've been going to weddings lately. I have an original fiction over at fictionpress.com (check my profile for the link if you're lazy). I'll do reviewer responses next time (sorry!). Thanks for reading. -xy

**Chapter 22: The Cult of the Spider**

****"RON!"

            "Hermione! Shut up!"

            Everything around Harry was a sickening blur of color. There was a bitter, acrid taste of bile in Harry's mouth. The room smelt of smoke, blood and sweat. It was hot, a freezing, icy heat that prickled like a million needles. There was yelling, screaming, cheering and spell casting creating a nauseating song that swirled around Harry in hi-fi.

            Ron was there, a sharp image among the blur, Hermione was dashing towards him, throwing caution to the winds. A spider web of blue energy wound itself around her and suddenly she had fallen amongst the screaming crowd.

            Harry jumped, throwing himself upon a nearby cultist, trying to grab the wand, keeping low. It was fortunate there were so many there, it was impossible for many to determine the source of the disturbance, and a blind panic was spreading contagiously through the crowd of robed spectators.

            Ron's body was still being lowered to a pit full of something, and Harry knew he didn't want to know what was in there. Harry grabbed the legs of another cultist and saw, to Harry's surprise, that he appeared to be a Death Eater as well as a spider cultist.

            "C'mon… where's your wand… c'mon…"

            Two freezing hands encased Harry's neck. He kicked backwards and connected with something, but the grip only tightened. Flailing wildly, Harry watched the world fall as he rose, held struggling above the heads of the dark monks.

            _Am I going to live through this? Maybe as a zombie?,_ wondered Harry dully. And then Harry felt a strange wind beside him.

            "Genie?"

            Cloaks were flapping; a blue-tinted wind was rising around them, and in the middle of it was…

            "LUNA!?"

            Luna looked sort of stoned, smiling incoherently, her head cocked to the side, her hands holding an antique oil lamp.

            "Dumbledore's here…It'll be okay…"

            Dumbledore?

            "Well, it looks like you didn't need me after all," said the genie sardonically.

            "Professor Dumbledore?"

            The genie gave an appreciative smile.

            "I thought you were sick…" said Harry as he jumped into the swirling vortex.

            "What? You think a wizard as powerful as me would just go away? But, when my physical body dies… so will this body."

            "Is there a way to stop you from dying?"

            "You'll see in time." He said mysteriously. "Steer me over there, would you kindly, Miss Lovegood?"

            Luna, parting the crowd like Moses as blue winds swept up dist around her, tiny lighting bolts spreading between sparks in the wind, walked calmly foreword, studying an oil stain on the lamp, oblivious to the screaming multitudes surrounding her. Ron hung above a pit of enlarged scorpions that were hissing terribly.

            "Can I take one as a pet?" asked Luna, reaching out a hand for the pit. To Harry's amazement, a scorpion climbed up her arm and gave her what was definitely a scorpion's idea of a smile.

            "Certainly," said the Dumbledore-genie.

            "Save me, not the scorpion!" Ron yelled, awakening from a daze.

            "Go get 'em, Fluffy," said Luna.

            Fluffy? Harry didn't have much time to contemplate Luna's choice of names for the hairless scorpion as he sat in a chair made of wind floating at the top of the storm. The scorpion climbed dexterously up the ropes and gave Luna a strange chirp. A hand of blue wind extended from the tornado between the pit full of the rest of the scorpions and Ron. Luna nodded. With another chirp, Fluffy cut the rope with his (her) mandibles and Ron went flying down into Dumbledore's gigantic hand.

            "Hermione!" yelled Ron as he swirled about in the whirlwind.

            Dumbledore extended some tendrils and cautiously lifted the screaming Hermione, who was dangling some of the more steadfast cultists who were holding instruments of torture. With a flick, however, they fell angrily back into the crowd, and Hermione was hoisted next to Ron.

            "Well? Ready? I don't think there's a gift shop, but you have my permission to take any souvenir you want."

            "MY WAND!" yelled Harry and Ron together. Harry realized exactly how important the wand was to a wizard – without it, spell casting was nearly impossible.

            "Ah, Arty Artemis has them."

            "You mean that same guy that just announced Ron's sacrifice.

            "No, that was the living Professor Artemis. He was fetched from the past. The dead one is on our side."

            "What?"

            But there was time for an explanation. With an unpleasant jolt, Harry fell foreword into the vortex. There were bumps, screams and then it was all over. Luna's face was above his, haloed in dazzling sparkles.

            "You're safe now," she said simply.

            The world swam into darkness.

            "Harry? Harry, stop being so lazy!"

            "Urrrrgh… Ron?"

            "Look, Mum sent us a bunch of Chocolate Frogs."

            Harry was in the hospital wing, Ron and Hermione sitting beside him. Ron was choking on a bug-flavored jelly bean, while Hermione was prowling through _Conjuration for Dummies_, muttering under her breath about three days lost study time.

            "Why would Dumbledore send us to a place like that?' asked Ron.

            "I think he wanted us to learn about that cult-thingy…" said Harry, shrugging, "except it didn't really work out."

            "Well, we now know that there are two Artemises."

            "But what's up with this fetched from the past stuff?"

            "Hermione, this is your area of expertise."

            "You can't go foreword in time with the time-turner… I'm sure if we checked out that time room in the Department of Mysteries, they'd have the answer."

            "Yeah, but even they don't know how to raise the dead."

            "I'm not sure… there might be a way to get someone back through that veil…"

            Was that what Sirius had meant by _I'm not dead_? Did he want Harry to go back in time and save him? Harry lay back on the comfortable bed, idly spitting out a hot-pepper flavored bean, replacing it with a rather tasteless water-flavored bean.

            "But what about zombies? They're not people from the past?"

            "Don't you two ever listen in History of Magic?"

            "Um… no…" admitted Ron.

            "He said that zombification has been illegal since 1822 when a gaggle of goblins raised a zombie dragon that killed half a town."

            "So zombification is just raising a dead body with magic?"

            "Well, no, not exactly. It's kind of like creating a ghost out of thin air and giving it a body. Except, the person is never the same."

            "So that's why Arty is good when he was bad in life?"

            "Pretty much. Except zombification is part of necromancy, which is only practiced by the Cult of the Spider only."

            "Goblins are part of the Cult of the Spider?"

            "Well, certainly… it was started by an ogre."

            "You know, we could have used all this info ages ago."

            "Yeah, well Dumbledore told me where to find book about it. Except it doesn't explain the temple beneath Hogwarts."

            "Well, whatever the case," said Ron, polishing off a dust-flavored bean, "I'm hungry for some real food."

            "Me too," said Hermione. "All this sugar really gets into the teeth."

            Harry nodded and they set off for the Great Hall.

            As soon as Harry got to his room, he contacted the Order through Sirius's old mirror.

            "Annette!" he yelled, "Annette!"

            Annette appeared in the mirror, tanned.

            "What happened? Why? Were you at school in Africa?"

            "Listen, none of that matters right now, I have something I really need to tell you!"

            "Annette, I thought…you said…"

            Harry was confused. At least Cho had acknowledged that there was something between them.

            "Harry… Just get that Drakhen back from my sister NOW!"

"What about that note you left me this summer… can you tell me what's going on."

"I couldn't tell you… There's someone else… But no matter…"

            But what she said after that Harry didn't hear. His eyes unfocused, every single muscle inside him twitching inside him. His fist connected with the mirror, which shattered. Blood pumped thickly through Harry's body, he had an odd feeling around his stomach.

            "Harry?"

            _Go away, Neville, damnit! Just let me be alone!_

"Harry? You look sick… you should go back to the hospital wing…"

            Shattered glass had pierced Harry's hand but it didn't matter. Why did girls always have to abandon him?

            "Harry? I'll get Madam Pomphrey…"

            "I'm fine!" Harry snarled, blood dripping from his fist.

            So this was it, huh? Why did his life have to be so screwy? _I mean,_ he thought, _why can't any kind of relationship I have just go right for me?_

            "Harry?" came another voice. "What happened?"

            Devin Malfoy's sudden transition had been so sudden to Harry, but right now he wanted to simply be alone. Stumbling, he muttered something to Devin and Neville and climbed into bet, his eyes pulsing with anger.

            "You're not okay," said Devin seriously. "We need to get you out of here."

            "No, I'm fine, I'm fine," muttered Harry

            "Harry, listen, whatever it is, we can't worry about this right now, the whole school has to go to the Great Hall, there's some kind of meeting."

            Harry had calmed somewhat, but he sat moodily squished between Ron and Hermione, hearing Amber speaking over and over in his mind.

            "Harry? You really need rest…"

            "Shut up, I said. What's this meeting about, anyway?"

            "I don't know. McGonagall just called us all here. Maybe Dumbledore is getting worse?"

            "I think he would have told us when he was there as a genie."

            "I guess so…"

            Just then, McGonagall approached where the staff table had been before – the Great Hall had now been set up as an auditorium (much to Hermione's displeasure, as house elves had obviously gone out of their way to make the auditorium nice).

            "Students, I have some grave news to present you."

            "Yeah," whispered Ron, "it's definitely about Dumbledore."

            "Ssh!" hissed Hermione.

            Harry watched as magical lights hovered over Professor McGonagall's tight bun of hair, casting uncountable shadows cascading about the almost-ghostly room that had eaten in earlier. It was a new moon, the ceiling was nearly black, and no torches had been lit.

            "Our Headmaster, who has recently been within our midst as a genie has lost full control. He has only a few more months to live."

            Harry, Ron and Hermione stared at each other.

                        "We're going to have to go to Azkaban soon," whispered Hermione, fear infecting her voice.


	23. Chapter 23: The Journey

I am a sexy, sexy beast! Yes I am! Woo hoo! Yeah! Good times! Sexy, sexy beast! (Sorry, I have to do this to bump it). 


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